Dream or Nightmare
by NightsPoison
Summary: Once you're in you may never come out. It keeps you prisoner for the rest of eternity, never releasing you from it's hold. The only one who can save and release you is it's own creator. That is if he allows you to leave...
1. Prologue

Prologue

Artemis and Apollo were being carried by their mother, Leto. Their mother could barely hold herself together. Even though Leto was a Titan, it didn't mean she couldn't get tired herself. It wasn't long ago that she given birth to Apollo. The good thing was that her daughter, Artemis, helped her through the whole process. If it weren't for Artemis, she wouldn't have made it through the birth of Apollo.

As she thought about her daughter, she hugged Artemis tighter toward her chest.

Artemis looked up at her mother with a worried look on her delicate, pale face. She loved her mother dearly and would give up anything to make her happy. Artemis was reminded of the pained look on her mother's face when she was giving birth to Apollo. It hurt Artemis to see her mother in pain.

"Mommy, let's stop here." Artemis begged her mother. Artemis was staring at her mother with sad, worried eyes.

Leto looked towards her daughter, unable to resist the sad, silver eyes staring up at her own. Leto sighed and walked toward the town that looked to be about five minutes away from where they were standing. She found an abandoned little house and decided to rest there.

Artemis and Apollo jumped out of their mothers arms and explored the little house, searching for any danger.

"Brother, you check that room and I will check this one." Artemis said, pointing toward two rooms that were in the small house.

"Uh-huh." Apollo nodded toward his sister.

Cautiously, both twins tiptoed into the rooms. They searched the little rooms for anything out of the ordinary, but once they saw that everything looked okay, they decided that the house was safe. Those two rooms were practically the whole house.

Leto put the twins to sleep, feeling the need to rest. She barley stood up and made it toward the other room, immediately falling asleep. She knew that her two children were safely sleeping in the other room. What she didn't know was that Artemis was sneaking out of the little house and going into the dangerous forest that she told them never to enter. Artemis, being the curious little newborn she was, disobeyed her mother.

Artemis quietly exited the little house, closing the wooden door behind her. She made sure that her mother and Apollo didn't hear her as she exited the house. Once she was out of earshot from the small house, she started running full speed towards the woods.

Come to think of it, Artemis regretted disobeying her mother. She had only been in the forest for a couple of minutes and already, a group of monsters were chasing her. Artemis would have fought back, but she didn't have any weapons to fight with and she didn't have the ability to use her powers, yet.

As Artemis was running, she was quickly pulled into a bush. She was about to scream, but a hand flew up toward her mouth stopping her from doing so. The offender whispered in her ear, "Shh, we have to be quiet or else they'll kill us." It was a little boy who had grabbed her and told her to be quiet.

The little boy looked to be around her age, maybe a couple of weeks older than her. Even though Artemis was born just a few days ago, she already looked like a full grown eight year old girl.

Both sat there quietly, hoping to not be found, but luck was not with them. A Hellhound found them and called over the other monsters with a howl. The boy pulled Artemis along with him leaving Artemis no choice but to follow. Soon both children were at a dead end; the monsters following behind.

They were at a cliff; the ocean restless beneath. The boy grabbed Artemis' hand and was about to jump, until Artemis decided that the boy needed some sense knocked into him.

"What are you thinking! I'm not jumping to my death!" Artemis screamed over the sound of the nearby monsters and the crashing waves.

Artemis knew she wouldn't die from the jump, but she could get something fractured. Besides, her mother told her never to go near any body of water, because she was a child of Zeus. Poseidon, the god of the Seas, didn't like Zeus' children in his domain.

"We have no other choice!" The boy screamed. "Either we jump or get eaten alive!"

Artemis hesitated.

"No, I'm not jumping." Artemis mumbled. She was scared. She should have listened to her mother. She wanted her mother to be there to protect her. She started to think about her brother, Apollo, too. At the thought of her mother and brother, her eyes grew watery with unshed tears.

The boy saw this and softened a bit. He squeezed her hand that he was holding and said, "Come on, don't cry. We'll be safe down there, I promise. Nothing will hurt you. Trust me, I'll protect you."

Artemis looked into the boys eyes and slowly nodded. He gave her a comforting smile, making Artemis feel ten times better. She somehow trusted this boy that had pulled her into the dangerous situation that she was currently in. As the monsters were getting closer, the boy looked at her and nodded signaling it was time to jump.

Both jumped into the roaring ocean, time slowly stopped as they fell into the deep, dark waters. The monsters only stood there stunned and sad that their meal was gone.

Both Artemis and the boy sunk into the deep blue sea, their hands still locked together. Artemis felt herself beginning to lose consciousness, knowing full well that she could not breathe underwater. She didn't even know how to swim. Her hold on the boy lessened, feeling the need to sleep. The boy started panicking as he saw her sink into the darkness below the sea. He quickly shot himself toward Artemis and took both of her arms into his, pulling her towards the surface.

The boy swam towards the shores of the beach, with Artemis unconscious in his arms. The boy not knowing what to do, shook Artemis, hoping she would wake up.

"Come on, wake up!" The boy screamed. He was panicking and shaking, praying to all the gods that she would wake up. "Please, I promised that you'd be safe. I can't break my promise."

Artemis slowly started to gain back her all her senses, hearing the screams of the boy beside her. The boy stopped shaking her as she opened her eyes, only to meet his. Artemis couldn't help but notice how his eyes resembled a vast, calm sea.

The boy jumped for joy and hugged her tightly. Surprised, but pleased, Artemis found the hug comforting after all she had just gone through. Artemis hugged him back. As she did so, she caught a whiff of the ocean breeze on the boy, but took it as he was just in the ocean and it could have also been the salty ocean breeze itself.

Artemis began to wonder how she even got into the forest. Why did she feel like she needed to be somewhere else other then the forest? The only thing that she could possibly remember was the boy that was beside her. He had saved her life from those terrifying monsters that were chasing after her. Why did she have a strange feeling inside of her, almost warning her to get out?

She was knocked out of her thoughts by the boy's voice. "Hey, maybe we should take you home. Your parents might be worried sick about you." Artemis looked as though she was hit by a lightning bolt. She struggled to remember where she was staying with her... Who was she staying with? Artemis started searching for any lead on the memories she had, but they all seemed very distant. It was like she was trying to see through a dark, stained window.

Soon, Artemis made up her mind. She was still very confused about the question, but she decided to not venture through her murky thoughts. As far as she knew, she didn't have any family.

"I don't have any parents. Well, at least I don't remember having any." Artemis spoke, sadly. "I don't know where I came from. I don't have a home." The boy looked at her incredulously. He, too, didn't have a family. He had been living in the woods for as long as he could remember.

The boy stood up and offered Artemis a hand. She took it gradually.

"Well, I don't have any, either. My name's Perseus, but you can call me Percy. What's yours?" The boy, Perseus, introduced himself. Percy was smiling at her with a smile that lit up his face, as well as the whole beach.

"My name's Artemis. You can call me anything you want, actually. I don't have a nickname like you." Artemis smiled shyly.

Percy thought for a second, his hand still gripping at her small, fragile hand. Perseus jumped up, his face lighting up like a newly lit Christmas tree. "I know! I'll call you Artie."

Artemis pondered on the new name Percy had given her and actually smiled. "I love it."

"Come on Artie, I want you to see my home, or should I say our home?" Percy said, excitingly. He ran into the deep, dark woods.

He pulled Artemis along.

...


	2. Hunting

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Mythology.**

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><p><strong>Hunting<strong>

"Percy, please stop!" Artemis giggled. Percy was tickling her making Artemis squirm. Artemis had pushed Perseus into a spiderweb making him scream like a little girl. Percy took revenge on her by tickling her knowing that she was beyond ticklish.

Artemis and Percy were out picking berries from the nearby bushes near they're home.

Both grew up fast for both were gods. Yes, Perseus, was a god. Artemis had found that out when she slashed his arm with a knife, while training with him, making golden ichor flow from the wound. Also she found out because he was aging just as fast as she was. They both looked to be around the age of thirteen or fourteen.

Percy had shown Artemis everything a person needed to survive in the wilderness and also to defend themselves. He taught her how to hunt, how to know which berries were poisonous and which were not, and mostly basic survival skills. Artemis, of course, was a fast learner and soon showed signs of a great hunter.

Percy and Artemis were best friends, but Perseus didn't want to be just friends. Ever since he met her he fell in love upon sight. Percy wanted to tell her how he felt about her and had tried to, but failed. He knew that she didn't believe in love. She told him herself. He remembered her word's everyday he saw her. _"I could never love someone. I don't know why, but I feel that no man could ever be what I want them to be. I'll never find that one person that makes me want to give my life to them... you know what I mean?" _

Oh, how Perseus tried to impress her, but she never paid him any attention. He wanted to be the person she gave her life to. He wanted her to know how he felt. He wanted his Artie to actually be his forever...

Perseus had stopped tickling Artemis and now stood in front of her all spaced out. Artemis snapped her fingers and waved her hand in his face trying to get him out of his little dream session. Percy didn't even blink. "Percy, hello? Earth to Percy. Are you there?" Artemis spoke, still waving her hand to get his attention.

Percy soon shook his head and stared confusingly at Artemis. Artemis just stared back equally confused.

"Are you okay? You seem to be spacing out a lot Percy." Artemis teased, but inside she was worried. He'd been acting very strange lately.

"I'm fine, Artie," Percy said in some sort of a trance, "I'm just thinking about stuff, that's all. No need to worry about little old me." Artemis still didn't look convinced but let it go. Percy was so hard headed that it would take a lot for him to break. She took one last look at him, scoffed, and turned around leaving Perseus with a dumb expression. _'What's up with her?'_ He just shrugged it off and kept on picking the berries from the bushes.

"You know Percy, if you keep thinking too much your head might explode." Artemis spoke, in a conversing manner.

"No it won't! You're just saying that to scare me," Percy exclaimed. "I remember last time you told me that if I ate my food to fast it would eat me. Well, here's a news flash, it didn't eat me! I'm not falling for you're tricks this time." Even though he said that he still felt his head to see if it was still there. Thankfully, it was.

"Oh, really?" Artemis turned toward him with a smirk upon her face. "Well, if it does explode don't come crying to me for any help." As she said this, she turned around, and walked away leaving Perseus with a frightened look.

"A-A-Artie, you were just kidding right? Artie?" Percy took off toward her direction making sure the berries didn't fall from the basket he was holding.

By the time he reached her they were already inside their home. Both put the baskets of berries atop a wooden table where they ate their meals and sat down on the wooden chairs that accompanied the table.

"You're so mean Artie," Percy spoke, breaking the silence between them. "Why are you always picking on me?"

"'Cause you're so fun to pick on," Artemis said, as if it were obvious. "Stop being such a baby and take it like a man." Artemis stood up from where she was sitting, grabbing the baskets of berries, and started exiting the house.

"Where are you going?" Perseus asked, a bit of anger evident in his voice. He was still mad about the whole 'Your heads gonna explode' situation.

Artemis didn't seem to hear him as she walked away without a word. At this Percy ran out the door, following Artemis.

"Ugh, now what do you want?" Artemis spoke, clearly annoyed.

"Well, since you avoided my question... I have to follow you around to have that question answered. Now where are we going?" Percy had snatched a basket from her hand and now took the lead.

"_We_ aren't going anywhere." Artemis took back the basket of berries from Perseus. "I'm going to wash these berries in the river, while _you_ go hunt for food. It's your turn to catch it. Remember?" She walked away again, leaving Percy behind.

"_It's your turn to catch it. Remember?_" Percy said, quietly, in a bad imitation of her voice. He stuck his tongue out at her leaving figure, while kicking the dirt that lay beneath him. "Thinks she could order me around. Well, I'll show her! I'll hunt down the biggest deer she's ever seen!" With that said he ran back toward the house to grab some weapons and started his search for their meal.

_Several hour's later..._

The whole hunting thing wasn't really Perseus' thing. He was more of a fishing kind of guy. So, when Percy said he would hunt the biggest deer she'd ever seen, well, it didn't go so well...

"Ahh!" Percy was running for his life, as a heard of cattle came charging at him.

He hadn't found any deer, so he decided to hunt down some cattle instead. At first he thought it would be easy to shoot down a cow with an arrow and of course being the idiot he was he actually shot one down. Boy, was he wrong when he thought it'd be easy. When the cow felt the arrow impale his butt, the cow went crazy.

The cow moved in circles and started making the other cows nervous. After the cow finished moving in circles it just dropped dead to the ground. Perseus was about to go claim his prize, but stopped midway seeing the other cattle turn toward him with angry looks.

"Uh, Hi, guys. I'm just going take your little friend over here and head home, okay?" Percy spoke to the cows, as if they were human. The cows just glared at Percy.

"Moo!" One of the cows sent out a battle cry. The cow that mooed came charging at him with the other cows following right behind. Percy seeing as he was outnumbered, ran for his immortal life.

After running for several hours Percy found a river and jumped right in. The cows stopped as they saw that Percy was no where to be seen. They all grunted and headed back to their territory.

"Phew, they're gone. Evil little cows." Percy said, clearly exhausted. "Now what am I going to do? Artie will hang me if I don't bring anything to eat and it's already nightfall." A fish passed by looking at Perseus with a weird look.

"What are you looking at? Scram!" Percy screamed at the little fish. The fish did as he was told and swam away faster than you can say tuna.

Percy breathed an exasperated sigh and put his head in his hands. Suddenly, Percy raised his head up and looked toward the direction the little fish swam away. Everything seemed to click in Percy's head.

"Wait, little fish! Come back!" Percy yelled. He propelled himself and swam after the fish.

_Meanwhile..._

"Ugh, where could that idiot be? He should be here by now!" Artemis breathed an angry breath. She hugged her stomach as it growled.

She was also worried about Percy. He wasn't exactly the greatest hunter out there and he would most likely get hurt in the wilderness. What confused her the most was how could he have survived when he was all alone until she came around. It also confused her at how he could have shown her how to hunt, kill, and survive, while he couldn't even get those things down himself.

Sure, Percy knew how to fight, but he was still...Um... What's the word? Clumsy. Yes, he was very clumsy. He always acted before he thought things through.

Even though he was clumsy and impulsive, Artemis still wouldn't leave his side if the world was about to end. She still remembered the day he had saved her. Perseus was protective and she knew he would do anything to keep her happy. He would conquer the world just for her...

"Artie! Open the door!" Percy yelled from outside. Quickly Artemis stood from where she was sitting and ran to the door, unlocking it.

She expected for Perseus to be all scratched up and have a little dead bunny with him, because last time he went hunting that was exactly the way he appeared at the front door, but what she saw wasn't that at all.

What she saw in front of her was Perseus soaking wet, holding four dead fish, and a triumphant smirk on his face.

"What happened to you Percy and what took you so long?" Artemis asked. He just walked in setting the dead fish on the table and sitting down on one of the chairs.

"Well, I didn't find any deer so I hunted for cattle, but that didn't work seeing as they chased me down." Percy began. "Then I sought out to catch some fish instead."

"You were chased down by cattle?" Artemis asked, not believing what she just heard.

"Yup, apparently, cattle get mad when you shoot down one of their own." Perseus sighed, he was exhausted from the events that had occurred in his hunt for food. He just wanted to eat with Artemis and head straight to bed.

Artemis didn't question him any further seeing at how tired he looked. She grabbed the fish and went outside to start a fire. She stuck the four fish on some sticks, held them close to the fire, and sat there thinking about Perseus and the things he went through just to make her happy. He thought she didn't notice how hard he tried to impress her, but she knew.

Percy made sure not to be heard as he made his way toward the entrance of the house and stared at her with a thoughtful expression. _'She's so beautiful.' _He thought as he got lost in the memories the both had made together. _'The only good thing that's happened to me since I was born was meeting her. I just wish she could see how much I love and care about her.'_

Artemis sensed his presence and turned to look in the direction he was standing. She noticed that he was spaced out again. She shook her head and left him to his thoughts. _'I wonder what he thinks in that little head of his.' _She started to get lost in her own thoughts and memories as she stared at the fire.

Both ate in silence that night. Each not knowing that they were thinking about one another.

Percy, too exhausted to make it to bed, fell asleep by the warm fire. His thoughts plagued by Artemis. _'If only you knew Artie...' _

Artemis just stared at Perseus feeling herself falling asleep as well. He seemed so peaceful and innocent while he was sleeping. _'When will you grow up?' _Artemis knew it would take Perseus a long time to leave his childish ways, but she liked him exactly the way he was. He was Percy and even though she told him to leave his annoying kiddish ways behind, she never meant it. She wanted him to stay the way he was. She wanted for Percy to be Percy. She would never change him.

_'I want you to be exactly the way you are Percy. Don't ever change.' _

_..._

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><p><strong>Thanks to everyone who reviewed and added this story to their favorites.<strong>

**Please Review.**

**Happy Holidays!**

**-PercyxArtemis**


	3. Biggest Fears

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Mythology.**

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><p><strong>Biggest Fears<strong>

"Now, Apollo, don't touch anything. Do you understand me?" Leto told her child. Apollo had grown up fast. He looked to be the age of a young eleven year old. Apollo was a lot different from Artemis in many ways. He never cared about the safety of his mother nor did he care about his own safety. The only thing he cared about was his looks and other girls to hit on. He was a very materialistic god.

"Mother, stop worrying so much. I'll be fine. It's just a stupid forest." Apollo said, looking himself in the mirror.

Leto looked at her son in disappointment. Oh, how she wished he would be just like Artemis. She missed her baby girl, even though that baby girl of her's had probably grown up to be a beautiful women by now. Artemis was her pride and joy, while Apollo was the complete opposite. When Artemis disappeared that faithful night, she searched frantically. She had lost her greatest child she had ever had.

"Apollo, you don't understand. This is not _just a stupid forest. _This forest is enchanted, it takes you as a prisoner, and keeps you locked away forever. _If _your sister is actually in there, it will take much to take her out. The ocean that lays by that forest has a part of the Lethe connected to it as well as the other bodies of water that lay there. It erases all the memories you had from where you were born to the point where you entered the forest." Apollo just rolled his eyes and looked at his mother with a cocky expression.

"Don't you trust me, Mother?" Apollo said, cockily.

Leto just shook her head sadly and stared at her over confident son. "Apollo, I lost your sister, I don't want to lose you too. You must be careful." She had grabbed her son's arm and dragged him outside into the dark of the night.

They were back at the little house where they lost Artemis. The dark woods looked evil in the light of the night, the moon clouded by the thick fog that surrounded the little town.

"Come, Apollo. We have to go now. It's midnight and that's when the woods open up the portal to enter." Leto spoke, walking toward the woods, beckoning her son with her hand.

"What? Mother, you're going," Apollo asked, confusion in his voice as well as anger. "I thought we agreed that I was going alone! I don't want to be baby sat, I think I'm old enough to enter a 'Scary Forest'!" Apollo was tired of being treated like little kid, he wanted to be treated like an adult.

Leto just ignored her son and took the lead. Apollo stomped toward his mother, frustrated that she ignored him.

Apollo didn't like his mother ordering him around, he was a grown boy after all, wasn't he? Apollo thought he would be mother's favorite when Artemis disappeared, so he rarely helped his mother search for her. Yes, he was jealous of Artemis getting all the attention of their mother. He wanted to be mother's favorite, he wanted to be her pride and joy, he wanted to be mother's only child. Even though Artemis was his sister, he hated her.

"Apollo? Apollo are you listening?" Leto asked. Apollo had a furious look on his face, but as soon as his mother questioned him on listening, he changed his expression into fake determination.

"Yes, Mother, you were saying?" Apollo asked his mother.

Leto just rolled her eyes and continued, "As I was saying, we have to look for the person who owns this forest, it's creator. That's the only way we will find your sister, Artemis. This creator is connected to the forest, since he created it. Well, he didn't create it, but his father did. The father trapped his son in the forest because of the child's danger. Soon this child grew since the child was a god. This child was born on the same day your sister was born, so by now he must be a grown man. There are rumors that say this child is a son of Poseidon and Aphrodite, but no one knows for sure."

"Wait, so you're saying we have to look for a weakling son of Poseidon and Aphrodite?" Apollo had a smug look on his face. " This will be easy. I'll have that sea spawn give us answers in no time."

"Shush, Apollo, you do not understand how powerful this child is do you?" Leto could not believe that Artemis was his sister. They were nothing alike. "He could destroy anything he would like, he could conquer the world if he'd like to, this godling would not blink twice on killing his enemies not to mention strangers like us. We are going into his domain after all."

"Humph, fine. What is his name? Or does he not have one?" Apollo asked his mother. He still thought he could beat some answers out of this 'godling'.

"His name is Perseus..."

…

Perseus had woken up from his deep slumber to see it was still dark. The fire had dissipated leaving in it's place glowing pieces of wood and ash. The reason for his sudden waking was because he sensed powerful presences enter the forest.

He looked toward the used up fire and found Artemis laying beside it on the other side where he lay. He immediately felt guilty. It was his fault that she was out here in the cold, and sleeping on the ground.

Quickly, he made his way toward her and decided to carry her inside. He picked her up bridal style, headed into their house, and closed the door behind him. When he arrived in her room, he put her down on her bed that was made from bear hide, and was about to leave her to rest, but stopped dead in his tracks when he heard her mumble, "No, please don't leave me Percy, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."

Slowly, he turned around to see if she had woken up, but saw her sleeping. A sad, worried look graced her delicate features. It looked like she was having a nightmare.

He wanted to go comfort her, but he had to see who had entered the forest. He looked toward her door and Artemis. _'If I don't go and see who it is, we might be attacked. If I don't go comfort her, I'll feel bad.' _

Percy made up his mind and quietly left her room. It was better this way, it was far too dangerous to leave this place unprotected, especially now that he had Artemis to take care of. It would pain him if anything bad happened to his Artie. He only wanted the best for Artemis.

"Now to find that presence." Percy said, determinately. He silently left the house and began looking for the trespassers.

…

Artemis woke in a cold sweat. She expected to still be outside by the fire, while Percy slept at the other side, but what she didn't expect was to be in her room. She was sweaty and scared. She wanted for Percy to be here and comfort her.

She got up from her bed and shakily walked toward Perseus' room.

"Percy? Um, can I talk to you?" She knocked on the door, but no one answered. "Percy?" Artemis opened the door and saw that Percy was not in there. His bed had not been used, it was still nicely made, with the wolf hide brushed and clean. Yes, his bed was made of wolf hide.

Artemis found it strange that he was not in his bed. He usually always slept in, it was seven in the morning after all. She decided to go check outside, maybe he was still out there, sleeping. As she checked, she found nothing but a used up fire. By now she started to worry. Oh, no, it was happening. Her dream was coming true. He had left her. _'No, stop thinking that way! He might have gone hunting.' _She tried convincing herself, but it was useless. She knew that Percy would never go hunting unless she ordered him to. He hated hunting for food. He'd always whine and protest when she would make him go.

She wanted to go out and look for him, but what if he came back? Artemis eventually made up her mind and waited for him to come back from wherever he had gone to, while trying to forget the nightmare she had. But it was impossible for her to forget that horrible nightmare that now haunted her in the waking world. It all seemed so real...

"_Artie, do you really believe that we'll be saved? If you want to stay in this place, fine. Just don't count on me being there." Perseus spoke, while he walked away. Both Perseus and her were by a strange place she had never seen before. It was a beautiful place. People were moving about they're business, playing music, and selling this weird type of food that smelled delicious. _

"_But Percy, I need you here. We all need you here. If you just abandon us to fend for ourselves we'll eventually end up dieing." Artemis had grabbed Perseus' hand and yanked him back toward her. _

"_Look, Artie, you decided on coming here. I didn't. My father hate's me and my mother won't do a damn thing about it. I'm a mistake Artie, while you are not. You're your father's pride and joy as well as your own mother. I'm sorry but I can't keep up with all of this." Percy tried walking away, but Artemis kept her hold on him._

"_So, you're just going to leave me like this? You promised me Percy! You promised you'd stay by my side no matter what happened. You told me you'd protect me at no matter what the cost. Or have you forgotten? Have you forgotten that night you found me in the woods when we were running from those monsters?" Artemis asked, shakily. Her eyes were now watery and her whole body was shaking. _

"_I know what I promised. I remember my words and those weren't it. I said I would protect you and that nothing would hurt you. I never said I would stand by your side. Besides you don't need me anymore. You have a family that would give their life for you, while I don't. No one wants me around." Percy said, his face hiding all emotion._

"_Stop talking that way! You have a family too! Can't you see how much they love you Percy? How about me, can't you see how much _I_ care for you? Percy, you've changed, you've changed a lot. I want the old Percy back, not this one." Artemis now had tears streaming down her face. She couldn't believe what he told her. He wasn't the same._

_Percy had grabbed her face with his hands and whipped her tears with his thumbs. Artemis was looking toward the ground, while he did this. Percy lifted her chin making her look toward him. They both locked eyes with each other._

"_I have to go Artie." Percy said, silently, breaking the silence that had come over them. _

_Artemis ripped her gaze away from him as well as the hold he had on her. "Is that your final decision?" _

"_Yes, Artie, it is. I can't stand being here. You have to understand that I don't belong in this world. I was better off in the woods where my father left me. I should have never left my home. I just wish you could come with me instead of being here trapped by Zeus' laws, but you became an Olympian and tied yourself officially to Olympus. That's why I'm leaving as well." Percy whispered._

"_Is that why you're leaving? Because I decided to become an Olympian and stand beside my father? For Zeus' sake Percy you're selfish! They asked you to be one of them as well, but you turned it down. Now, you want me to leave my post and go with you? No, I'm sorry Percy, but I just don't know you anymore." Artemis said, anger seeping into her voice. _

"_I never said that! You're the selfish one here! I stood by you're side every second. If I hadn't approved of you leaving that forest, you'd still be there without a memory of your own family! I thought you were going to turn down that offer of becoming an Olympian, so I said no. I've helped you more than anyone I've ever helped in my Immortal life. You were the first Immortal I met and I decided to help you survive. If I left you to fend for yourself out there in those woods, you'd probably be eaten by the monsters that roamed the place. If you say I'm the selfish one here, fine by me. I'll show you selfish. I'm sorry to have interrupted you, Artemis!" Percy yelled, bowing in a mocking way. Percy stomped away leaving a stunned Artemis behind. Percy had _never_ called her by her real name._

_Artemis ran toward Perseus locking him into a hug,"No, please don't leave me Percy, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." Percy just turned toward her, shook his head, and turned into his true form leaving an empty handed Artemis with an aching heart. _

_Before Artemis could react monsters were hammering on the gates of the beautiful city, while their leader stood behind them, ordering the monsters around. Soon, the monsters broke through the gates, immediately attacking all the peaceful citizens._

_Artemis tried running, but the monsters kept catching up to her. She called for help, she called for Percy, but he never came. They sliced at her with swords so sharp that could cut metal through with it's blade. The leader of the army of monsters went up to her motionless body and started stabbing her with a spear that had appeared from thin air. _

"_Come on, Artemis. Call for your precious little Perseus. He won't hear you. In fact he hate's you." The man grinned down at her, stabbing her one last time, but this time through her heart. _

That dream was the worst nightmare she had ever had. She still felt the swords that the monsters carried, slice through her, as if it were real. She looked toward her skin, but saw nothing. _'It was only a dream. A really bad dream. A nightmare.' _She tried convincing herself that it was only that, but she could have sworn that it all looked and felt real.

The worst part of the whole dream was when she lost Percy. She didn't want that to happen. She wanted for Percy to stand by her side. To always take care of her...

Many hour's passed and Percy had not come back. It was already nightfall and it worried Artemis.

"Ugh, where are you Percy?" Artemis asked to no one in particular.

…

Percy had been running all day and he was really tired. He hadn't eaten at all since he woke up nor had he had a droplet of water on his taste buds. The good thing was he had found the presence that he had sensed. Actually there were two presences. It was a woman and a young boy. They seemed to be looking for something and Percy wanted to find out what that was.

"Maybe it's time to test your strength." Percy whispered, silently.

He snapped his fingers and decided to leave behind a little surprise.

"Mother, look behind you." The boy, quietly order the woman.

"What is it Apo-" She stopped short when she actually looked behind her. Her eyes widened to the size of plates and she stood there motionless.

"Mother, it's like a gigantic snake. What do we do?" Again the boy spoke, clearly not seeing the situation they both were in.

"Quiet! Do not move. It's not a gigantic snake, Apollo, it's the great Python."

...

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><p><strong>Thanks to those people who reviewed and who put this story to their favorites. Tell me what you think in a review. Is it good or bad, maybe in between? Please Review it gives me inspiration.<strong>

**Thanks!**

**- PercyxArtemis**


	4. A Promise

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Mythology.**

* * *

><p><strong>A Promise<strong>

Apollo and Leto stood there motionless for a second, before Apollo decided to take some initiative in the situation they were in by summoning his bow and arrows. He was about to shoot, but Leto put a hand on his bow.

"No, Apollo, you must not shoot. It will only make it's anger toward you grow faster. We must think of something else." Leto whispered.

"Mother, if you haven't noticed yet, it is already angry! We must kill it before it kills us!" Apollo whispered, angrily. He began to take aim at the snake again and shot an arrow at it before Leto could stop him.

The arrow seemed harmless to the snake for it didn't even move. The Python looked where the arrow had punctured it's scales, then to Apollo. It gave Apollo a deadly glare and advanced to where Apollo was standing in shock. His arrows never failed him, well, not until now.

The Python stood to it's full height, hovering over Apollo, while Apollo looked up in fear. It's red eyes glowering down at Apollo. Apollo just stood there and dropped his bow out of fear. The large snake struck down toward Apollo, but missed him by inches because Leto had yanked Apollo by his arm before the Python could even blink. It hissed, glaring some more, and slowly slithered to where Apollo and Leto stood. The fangs of the great snake were shinning in the dark of the night, while a green liquid from it's mouth dropped to the ground in front of them, melting a hole on the forest ground.

"Oh, the irony! Tonight shall be the night the hottest god on Mount Olympus will die because of a stupid little snake." Apollo began weeping, hiding his face in his hands. At this action, Leto smacked the back of his head making Apollo rub his head in pain.

"Shut your trap Apollo before I shut it for you!" Leto had, had enough of Apollo and his childish behavior.

"Okay, Okay, just trying to lighten the mood." Apollo grumbled.

"Death is not to be played with Apollo and you should know that by now. You are after all the son of Zeus and you are in the council of the gods. You must start acting mature enough to hold the post you were given by your father." Leto said, seriously.

Apollo just scoffed, "I think I act more mature than Athena herself. No one can stand in the standards of maturity as I do. I am, of course, Apollo, the god of the sun, music, poetry, truth, healing, archery, and prophecy!"

For a second, Apollo had forgotten about the snake, giving it the perfect opportunity to wrap it's tail around Apollo's leg. Apollo stood there proud and mighty, while his hands turned into fists that rest on his hips and his chin lifted high. Soon the snake yanked Apollo with it's tail and lifted him up in the air by his foot. Lifting Apollo toward it's eyes, it glared at him with fury. Apollo could only stare at the slimy snake with fear as the poor god was upside down, weaponless. The Python took one last look at the godling and threw him out toward the deep woods making Apollo crash into a boulder.

"Ugh, stupid snake! I'll show you who's boss around here!" Apollo screamed, but was too dazed to even see where he was. A boy stood over him, looking at Apollo curiously. The boy just shrugged and walked away leaving Apollo to get up on his own. Apollo stood up carefully to see if the snake was anywhere in sight. He wondered who that boy was, but soon shook it off, and summoned his bow with an arrow ready to be released. Apollo took off running where he could hear the snake hissing and slithering around. When Apollo got there the Python was gone.

Apollo looked around confused, "Humph, probably slithered away to it's mommy. Coward."

When Apollo had said this he suddenly got hit with something that felt like a big slimy whip. He landed on the ground face first. Spitting the dirt out of his mouth, he got up from the ground, and took a wary stance holding his shaking bow and arrow. Apollo had many cuts that spilled golden ichor, blood of the gods, and bruises that were forming around his body. He would never admit it, but he was scared and tired. He wanted his mother to be beside him, protecting him, but she was no where to be seen at the moment.

"What do you want, you slimy beast! Why do you hide and not face me?" Apollo asked shakily, barley containing his fear.

Apollo started shooting all around him, trying to shoot and find the snake. He was running out of arrows and still he had not found nor shot the snake.

Apollo started to get frustrated, "Come on! Face me you stupid snake!"

Apollo started concentrating on his powers. He hadn't used them that much because he was horrible at controlling them. Some of the gods had tried to teach him how to use his powers, but they always ended up regretting it. He would leave the other gods either scorched or spouting out bad poetry. In Olympus, the other gods laughed at him behind his back saying he was a failure at being a god and at being on the council of the gods. Now it was time to prove them all wrong.

He imagined himself being duplicated and surrounding the forest. His duplicates started searching the whole perimeter of the area, looking for the snake, searching for the warmth it released from it's body. Since he was the sun god, he would be able to sense anything that gave out warmth, including cold blooded animals. Soon enough, he found the snake hiding in the shadows of the night. The duplicate that found the snake, stayed there, while the other duplicates were ordered back to Apollo's body. Apollo transported himself to the duplicate that had found the snake and ordered it as well to return to his body. Apollo, that was now whole, readied his stance, with his bow and arrow in hand. The Python also came out of it's hiding place and stood tall, hovering over the god.

"Finally decided to fight me, huh." Apollo said, glaring at the snake. The Python answered with a hiss, glaring at Apollo as well.

The Python was the first to move as it sent it's tail to whack Apollo like it had done last time, but Apollo knew the Python's tricks therefore ducking before it even got the chance to get a hit at him. Missing Apollo by many inches, it's tail hit a set of trees, knocking them down as if they were domino's. The Python was distracted at how Apollo could have moved that fast, giving Apollo a chance to shoot some arrows into it's skin, piercing the snakes body. Apollo knew that it would take a lot to kill the Python with a simple arrow because of the snakes scales. The scales of the Python were like armor for the snake making it hard to simply shoot an arrow into it's skin. So, instead of using his normal arrows, Apollo summoned his special fire arrows. These arrows could pierce through anything made out of metal and so on. The Python moved and hissed in pain.

"Think you can outsmart me? Think again!" Apollo was practically rolling on the floor laughing at the snakes pain.

From a tall branch of a pine tree, Perseus was watching everything that had happened, and wasn't happy. Percy didn't like Apollo and how he acted. Apollo was way over confident and cocky. Percy saw as Apollo kept shooting the poor snake and shook his head sadly. He couldn't believe there to be such an evil god out there, but then again his father put him in this forest as his prison. Slowly, he saw the snake die.

"No one can beat the great Phobeus Apollo!"

"Apollo! Oh, thank Zeus you're alright." Leto had come out of the trees behind Apollo and was now hugging him.

"Ugh, mom! Of course I'm alright. Now stop treating me like a baby!" Apollo stomped his foot as his mother kissed his forehead.

Leto just smiled, "Fine. We must get going if we want to find Artemis in this forest."

_'Artemis? What could they want with Artie?' _Perseus thought to himself.

"Your sister must be here somewhere and we must find her." Leto said, determination ringing in her voice.

_'Sister? But that's impossible! Artie told me she didn't have any family, unless she was lying to me... No, it must be someone else.'_ Percy kept telling himself that it might have been another person that came here on accident, but inside he knew that Artemis was connected to these people. And soon they would take her away.

Percy took one last look at both intruders and headed back home.

…

"Where have you been!" Artemis screamed, slapping Percy on the cheek.

"Ow! Gosh Artie, I've missed you too." Percy said, rubbing his cheek, while getting up from the floor. The slap she gave him made him tumble to the ground and made his cheek redder than a cherry. By morning his cheek might even have a bruise or maybe even her hand printed on it.

"Don't you Artie me! Where have you been Perseus? I've been worried sick about you all day and you don't have the decency to leave a gods damn note to at least let me know where you are!" Artemis was beyond mad and Percy could tell. She never called him Perseus unless she was extremely mad and right now it seemed to be one of those occasions.

Artemis growled and grabbed Percy by the ear dragging him into her room.

"Ouch! Artie that hurts!" Percy exclaimed.

That just made Artemis pull on his ear more, "I'm glad it does! 'Cause this is just the beginning on what I'm going to be doing with you and after I'm done you'll be wishing you never met me!"

"Artie! Please don't hurt me. Think before you ac-" He was cut off by Artemis pushing him onto the door of her room, while her hand was at his throat.

"Stop trying to distract me and answer my question! Where were you?" Even though Artemis was being aggressive with him, she was glad he was here. Besides the point of being extremely glad, she was furious. He had never left her for a whole day without knowing where he was. She had been worried sick and he just walked in the door like nothing happened.

"A-a-artie, please let's talk about this like two civilized gods and not try to kill one another, okay?" Percy had his hands up, while she still had a hold on his throat.

Artemis growled, "No, I want answers and I want them now!"

Percy had never seen her this mad before. He was about to answer her, but noticed a few tear stains on her cheeks. She had been crying.

"Artie, what happened? Why have you been crying?" Percy asked, softly. He gently stroked her cheek with his hand. Artemis pushed his hand away and let go of the hold she had on him.

"I-it's nothing important." That was all she said, before she walked passed him and went to sit on her bed.

"You can't say it's nothing if you were crying about it. Now tell me what happened? You can trust me, can't you?" Percy sat on her bed and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Of course I trust you Percy. It's just that I don't trust myself to tell you without crying about it." She was looking into his eyes, those same eyes that had looked at her with hate in her dream. She lowered her gaze as tears started forming in her own eyes.

"Hey, now, don't cry. You know I hate seeing you cry." By now Percy had his arms around her and she could only accept him and hug back. She started sobbing as she hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go. After about a few minutes she stopped, but still kept her arms wrapped tightly around him. Then she proceeded, telling him the dream she had that had haunted her all day. When she finished he was very silent, not knowing what to say.

But soon found his words, "You'd really think I'd do that? If you'd think I would I'm telling you now that I would never ever betray you like that. I'll always stand by your side. Always."

"Then promise me. Promise you'll never leave my side. Promise me that you'll follow me wherever I go." She looked up into his eyes, expecting him to answer quickly, but he hesitated.

"Artie. I don't think... I... I just..." Percy couldn't promise her this. If those people were really looking for her and wanting for her to go home with them then he'd have to follow along. He couldn't leave his home, but he also could never say no to her.

"Promise me Percy. I need you to promise me this. Please." Artemis begged.

"Artie, you need to understand that I- I just," Percy couldn't say it. He couldn't find the words to say no. Those sad silver eyes that she gave him were too much for him to handle.

"I promise."

...

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><p><strong>Hey guys, just thought I could upload this story before the year ends. It has been a great year and hopefully the upcoming year turns out to be the same. So many things have happened this year like me actually having the guts to publish a story and make myself an account on Fanfiction. I guess I could say that 2011 has been my best year yet. Thank you for your reviews and those who put this story on your favorite's list. Please review. I love reading your thoughts and ideas. <strong>

**Happy New Year!**

**-PercyxArtemis**


	5. A Mistake

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Mythology.**

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><p><strong>A Mistake<strong>

Aphrodite looked on at the newly wedded couple with disgust as they laughed and drank. They had just gotten married and the gods were celebrating as if them getting married was a big deal, which it was but Aphrodite didn't think so. The couple was the next big thing next to Zeus and Hera. It was none other than Poseidon and Amphitrite.

"Aphrodite," Zeus called to her, "Why don't you go congratulate Poseidon and Amphitrite instead of standing there drinking yourself drunk."

She pushed her way passed Zeus and walked over to the happy couple. Zeus saw that she wasn't in a good mood today; actually, she hadn't been in a good mood for as long as he can remember. She had been acting awfully strange lately and he even told Hera to see if she was alright. Hera didn't want to talk to Aphrodite nor follow Zeus' orders after his affair with Leto, the Titaness of motherhood. But Hera eventually did as she was told and talked to Aphrodite, because of the chaos happening in the mortal world. Mortals had lost love for each other and started killing one another and the only one who could fix it was Aphrodite. Why? Because Aphrodite, the goddess of love, had stopped spreading her love magic around and caused people to only hate each other.

Aphrodite had fixed the problem, but you could see that all the traces of love did no longer exist in her world. Aphrodite seemed broken to the other gods and it worried them. Zeus knew something was wrong with her and again he asked Hera to see what was wrong with her but all she said was that Aphrodite was just having some problems and to have the rest of the gods leave her alone, including him.

"Congratulations on the marriage. Hope you two live happily and have a wonderful family together." Aphrodite said, with fake excitement in her voice.

"Thank you Aphrodite, it means a lot coming from you." Poseidon had pulled her into a hug, which Aphrodite just pulled away quickly and went to hug Amphitrite.

Poseidon was awfully surprised by the way Aphrodite was acting. He knew she was still mad at him for what he had done, but it had been two years ago, she had to let it go.

"Will you excuse us, Amphitrite; I need to have a word with Aphrodite." Poseidon looked at his wife for her approval.

Amphitrite nodded happily, "Yes, I'll just go speak to the rest of the guest. You will be back soon right?"

"Yes, of course, I just need to thank Aphrodite for giving me such a lovely wife." Poseidon nodded, warmly.

'_I don't think you want to thank me just yet Poseidon. I promised myself that I would have my revenge and I always keep my promises.'_ Aphrodite thought, evilly.

Poseidon had hulled Aphrodite by her arm and brought her inside the throne room where just a few thrones stood tall, sparkling from the power and glow they radiated.

"What's wrong with you?" Poseidon spoke, still gripping her arm that he was holding. Aphrodite was struggling to break free from Poseidon's stone hard grip.

"Let go of me." Aphrodite spoke through clenched teeth.

Poseidon gripped her arm tighter, "I will not let go of you until you tell me what's wrong with you. You've been acting like a child Aphrodite, no, no; you've been acting like a mortal."

"Poseidon, let go of me."

"No."

Aphrodite kept struggling, "Let go. You're hurting me."

Poseidon loosened his hold, but did not let go.

"Tell me Aphrodite; are you still mad about what happened two years ago?" Poseidon tried searching her multi-colored eyes, trying to find any emotion hidden in those beautiful eyes that held so much hate.

Aphrodite looked away and stopped her attempts at breaking free. "What do you want from me Poseidon? You already took the most important thing away from me, what else do you want?" Aphrodite's voice was thick with emotion. He knew that she was still upset about what happened.

"Aphrodite you have to stop this childish behavior," Poseidon grabbed her chin and made her look him straight in the eyes, "You're embarrassing yourself. The rest of the gods are starting to worry about you and they're beginning to wonder what really happened that made you this upset."

Aphrodite glared at him, "I don't care! I just want back what's rightfully mine!"

"You know that cannot happen. He's gone and you will have to deal with that!" Poseidon was getting angry. They had, had this conversation and she just didn't seem to understand.

"Who's gone? And what does Aphrodite want?" A voice spoke from beside the hearth.

Both Aphrodite and Poseidon turned toward the voice to find Hestia standing with a confused look on her features. Poseidon was trying to look for any excuse that would cover anything she had heard, but he found that he couldn't. He had released his hold on Aphrodite and stared at Hestia with an openmouthed expression.

Aphrodite on the other hand was smirking, "Yes, Poseidon, what do I want?"

Poseidon was glaring at Aphrodite, while Aphrodite wore an innocent expression making her features a little mischievous with the smirk she still wore. Hestia watched them both knowing something was up that Poseidon didn't want anyone to know.

"Nothing, we were just talking about, um, how Zeus' daughter hasn't appeared yet. Apollo's twin sister." Poseidon stuttered.

"You're lying, Poseidon." Hestia spoke. Nobody lied to Hestia, she always detected when you told the truth, sort of like Apollo.

Aphrodite was enjoying herself too much. _'Maybe this way I'll get my son back.' _Aphrodite thought. Poseidon had taken her most prized possession. He had taken her pride and joy and he would pay for the crime. She remembered her son and how he got yanked away from her by that monster better known as Poseidon the father of her son. She remembered her son from the day he was born to the day he was taken away by Poseidon and never to be seen again. Her son named Perseus…

"_Perseus, my little boy, why don't we go play with that big horse you saw yesterday, huh?" Poseidon spoke as he walked into Aphrodite's palace. _

_Perseus only looked to be around the age of a four year old but he was only a few months old. He was playing with a wooden horse that Poseidon had given him since his last visit. Aphrodite had not let Poseidon get close to Perseus because she was afraid he would take him away. So, when Aphrodite had left Perseus, while she went to go run an errand he took the chance to see his child._

_Perseus had run up to his father and hugged his legs, "Daddy! You're back." _

"_Oh, how I've missed you so much, Perseus." Poseidon spoke. He had missed him, he truly had, but inside Poseidon knew that he couldn't get too attached to the boy. Poseidon picked Perseus up and looked into the boy's eyes seeing only innocence in those sea colored eyes. Poseidon knew that when Perseus grew up he would be a heartbreaker and he would have every single girl and goddess after him. _

"_What are you doing here Poseidon?" Aphrodite demanded. She had walked in and found her son being carried by the man that was his father. _

"_I'm here to see my son, can't I?" Poseidon asked. Aphrodite had walked up to him and took Perseus from his arms. _

"_No." Aphrodite answered simply. _

_Poseidon clenched his fists, "He's my son, I have every right to come and see him." _

"_You know that's not the reason why you're here, Poseidon. You know that as much as I do. You want to take him away from me and I won't let you." Aphrodite spoke, harshly. _

_Poseidon sighed deeply, "Aphrodite, I need to put him somewhere safe before Zeus finds out of his existence. You know that he'll destroy him. He is my first child and he is very powerful, he is also your first child and that makes him even more powerful. I must take him away."_

"_No, if you think you can just come in here and take my child away then you're wrong. You'll have to go through me first." Aphrodite spoke, firmly. _

"_Please, Aphrodite, think of his safety! He needs to be hidden." Poseidon was getting frustrated. Aphrodite was the most stubborn person he had ever met. Why couldn't she understand that the child was in danger when he was with her, especially on Olympus?_

"_I am thinking of his safety and he's better off with me! You'd probably kill him if you had the chance. You hated him the first time you ever saw him!" Aphrodite screamed._

"_Ugh, Aphrodite, please," Poseidon had never begged and this was the first time he had ever begged to anybody in his life, "Please, Aphrodite, give him to me, I'll keep him safe. Trust me!"_

"_Leave." Aphrodite demanded. _

"_But Aphrodite, he ne-" Poseidon was cut off as he was pushed out of the palace by Aphrodite herself._

"_Leave and never come back. I never want to see you again Poseidon. Never." Aphrodite turned on her heels and walked off with little Perseus in her arms._

…

_Later that night Aphrodite had left little Perseus in his silver crafted crib and left to her room to get some rest herself. She had been so tired that she had not noticed that she had left her son's door wide open. _

_Poseidon had walked into Aphrodite's palace and into Perseus' room. He walked to his son's crib and gently picked his son up, trying hard not to wake neither him nor Aphrodite up. _

"_I'm so sorry Perseus," Poseidon whispered feeling his eyes water, "I am truly sorry, please forgive me." _

_Poseidon then flashed himself off with his son in his arms taking him far away from his mother and his home. _

…

_Aphrodite woke up early and went to see if her son was awake yet, but found that Perseus was nowhere to be found. She looked frantically, searching everywhere her son could possibly be, sending her servants to help her search, but in the end they found nothing. Perseus was gone and she had a suspicion on who could have taken her lost son. _

_Poseidon._

"_Curse you Poseidon! Curse you! I'll have my revenge on you. I'll destroy you! I swear I'll destroy everything you hold dear, everything!" Aphrodite had tears streaming down her face. He would pay for what he had done and she would make sure of it. He would pay…_

"Well, Poseidon I'm waiting." Hestia spoke.

Aphrodite knew that this would destroy him. Poseidon would be ruined if the other gods knew that he had a son with her and Amphitrite would hate him. It was time for Poseidon to pay and Aphrodite was enjoying the show. She always won. Always.

...

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><p><strong>I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a long time and that this chapter is so short it's just that I've been having some problems at home and school started on the fourth. Also, my laptop broke so I have to go get it fixed and right now I'm using my uncle's laptop. I am so sorry and thank you to those who reviewed and put this stories to your favorites. There might be some mistakes, but I typed this chapter really fast because I didn't have much time on my uncle's laptop so yeah. Again I am so sorry and Please Review! Thanks!<strong>

**-PercyxArtemis**


	6. Family

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Mythology.**

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><p><strong>Family<strong>

"Um... No, really we were just talking-" Poseidon had been cut off by a cheerful Zeus, which was rarely seen nowadays.

"What are all of you standing around her for? There's a party out there, go have some fun. Especially you Poseidon, after all it's your big day with your bride, shouldn't you be with her?" Zeus happily spoke. The three gods that were arguing just a few minutes ago looked at Zeus like he had grown two heads.

Hestia had walked toward Zeus leading him out of the throne room, "Brother are you feeling alright? You seem a little off. Why don't we go out and see if Hera put a spell on you again, shall we?"

"What! No, I'm just happy that my brother finally found someone... We don't really need to see Hera, she's in a bad mood and I just don't want to deal with her while we're celebrating this wonderful occasion." Zeus spoke, nervously.

"Zeus, are you really afraid of your own wife?" Hestia shook her head in exasperation, "You both loved each other dearly and now it seems you can't even stand living with each other. We're going to fix this problem and get you both back on track of your undying love for each other. Even though you forced her to marry you by some... mistakes that you made."

"Must we really do that? I mean we were doing so well ignoring one another and now I have to ruin it. It's natural for couples to fight; seriously it's healthy to let out all that steam, right Aphrodite?" Zeus turned to Aphrodite, hoping she would help him out.

"Don't look at me like that, Zeus, I think it's only right for you and your wife to make up. You both seem really happy together and it's not right for you to fight. Hestia you really don't have to take him he can deal with that by himself, he's a big boy after all." Aphrodite nodded toward Zeus.

"No, no go ahead Hestia; he might need some protection," Poseidon eagerly spoke, "After all Hera did curse him that one time and it took about four months for that awful spell to wear off."

Aphrodite glared at Poseidon knowing full well that he was trying to avoid confronting Hestia and releasing the truth about their son.

Hestia eyed both gods knowing something was up, but let it go seeing that Poseidon was being hardheaded and would never tell her the truth, "Come on Zeus, let's leave these two alone they seem to have a lot of things to... discuss."

Poseidon looked toward the closing doors and chuckled. Zeus was still a boy at heart and his childish ways would take some time. Child. He looked down sadly wondering what his own child was doing or if he even had a child anymore. But what he had done was for the good of his child and besides he would have other children. _'Yes, I'll have many other children with Amphitrite. I love her... don't I? Of course I do! What am I thinking I married her for Zeus's sake! I love her... a lot... right?' _Poseidon shook his head angrily. Aphrodite was affecting his mind and emotions.

Aphrodite.

He had learned love from her. He had a child with that woman. He had loved her.

He remembered how close they had gotten when she helped him court Amphitrite. She helped him with his whole relationship and therefore both Aphrodite and himself spent many times together. Soon both had grown close and he started to feel something for the love goddess. Every time he saw her he felt something stir inside him something so deep and profound that he couldn't help but notice every detail about her. She made him feel like he was drowning in his own mind. He just didn't know what it was. That is until that faithful night they both had shown deep love and care for each other. He remembered that day like it was yesterday...

"_So, how are you and Amphitrite coming along. You both seem so incredibly happy about the wedding. Tell me how do you feel about her?" Aphrodite excitedly said. Both gods sat on marbled benches in Aphrodite's temple. Poseidon had just come by to visit Aphrodite and talk about his relationship with Amphitrite. _

"_Well truth be told, I love her. She makes everything better in my life and I can't wait until the wedding. She makes me so happy and gleeful all the time I just want her to be my bride as soon as possible." Poseidon spoke, but you could tell he was holding something back._

"_What's wrong? Isn't this what you wanted? I mean you begged me to help you and well..." Aphrodite found herself pausing, "Now you just seem to be off on your words... and... are you thinking about canceling this wedding that has been planed out since the day you asked her to be your girlfriend?"_

_Poseidon grimaced, "What! No, it's just that... I'm nervous and... I think about her all the time... I love her."_

"_You don't seem so sure. I also feel your aura of love passed on to someone else. Who is it?" Aphrodite asked, slight disappointment evident in her voice._

"_I don't love anybody else! I love her... What do you mean by 'my aura of love passed on to someone else'? I don't know what you're talking about." Poseidon was really confused. He loved Amphitrite and no one else._

_Aphrodite rolled her eyes,"I meant that you no longer have that aura around you when you talk about her. When you used to talk about her your eyes would shine with this light and you'd have this scent that you'd release as well. The scent itself didn't smell bad it actually smelt of roses, which I would know about." _

_Poseidon stayed quiet for a long time. He knew that he was a little unsure about who he loved, but he was positive that he loved Amphitrite. She was everything he wanted. At least he thought she was. Maybe he needed some time to think about this. No! He loved her. He was going to marry her in a few days and he didn't need to turn back now._

"_Poseidon?" Aphrodite asked, softly bringing him back from his thoughts._

"_Yeah?"_

_Aphrodite bit her bottom lip, "Who is it? Who do you truly love?"_

"_I-I don't know." Poseidon's head hung down in shame. He loved Amphitrite, but it seemed someone else also captured his heart. The shameful thing was, was that he didn't even know who._

_Aphrodite lifted his chin up with her finger and looked deep into his eyes. He was like a puppy. A very lost puppy looking for someone to hold and love. _

"_We'll find out and get through this... together." Aphrodite softly spoke. Her voice sounded so soft and caring. Poseidon couldn't help admire her voice. It was so beautiful._

_Poseidon looked deep into her colorful ever-changing eyes and noticed just how beautiful she truly was. Everything about her just seemed perfect. Her flawless face, her amazing eyes, and her soft, pink lips. He looked down toward her lips and could see that they were slightly parted in a sexy manner. He started leaning closer, stopping as his lips were only an inch away from her own. There breaths mingled as both gods breathed. _

_Aphrodite, seeing that something was about to happen, pulled away quickly. Clearing her throat she stood up from the bench and walked over to the balcony overlooking the city of Olympus. The city was always awake even in the dead of night like now. It was night time and the moon was out shining brightly, which meant that Selene was out doing her rounds as the goddess of the moon. _

"_I'm sorry. I didn't mean... I just... I'm sorry." Poseidon tried finding words to apologize to the love goddess by found it impossible. Why were his words failing on him now?_

_Aphrodite kept her eyes toward the city, "Why?"_

"_What? I-I don't know why? I mean I guess it was just an urge to kiss you and I'm really-" _

_Aphrodite cut him off, "No! I meant why me? You're not suppose to fall in love with **me**. You're suppose to fall in love with Amphitrite. Why me?" _

"_I don't know, okay? Jeez, why is this such a big deal," Poseidon had walked behind her, "I'm just confused that's all. Besides, I'm getting married in a couple of days and this whole thing will just float away."_

_Aphrodite scoffed, "Do you really believe that! You do think it's just some kind of crush? Poseidon for Zeus' sake I'm the love goddess I know your intentions and I also know that you barley feel anything for Amphitrite anymore. You say you love her, but truly that's just something to say for others to believe you. Soon you'll get tired of her and you're going to hate your marriage. I think we should stop seeing each other for a little while. This is turning out to be a little too much. I promised to help you with your relationship not to make some relationship of our own. Please leave."_

"_But Aphrodite I need your help. You can't just abandon me like this," Poseidon felt panic start to envelope him, "I need you. Please don't push me away."_

_Aphrodite turned toward him, "Poseidon I don't think we should keep doing this. This will turn out to be a mistake."_

"_We're not doing anything wrong. You're just helping me. Please let me stay." Poseidon pleaded._

"_I don't know if I should-" She was cut off as Poseidon crashed his lips into her own._

_Quickly, Aphrodite pushed away looking at Poseidon with a horrified look, "Poseidon, no! Just- this isn't suppose to happen. You're not suppose to kiss me you're suppose to kiss Amphitrite! See what I mean by you-"_

"_I'm sorry! It was an impulse. I don't know what came over me." Poseidon couldn't believe he had just kissed Aphrodite. He wasn't suppose to do that. He wasn't suppose to have any physical contact with other woman. He was only suppose to kiss Amphitrite. Amphitrite, the love of his immortal life. _

_Aphrodite said nothing. She just kept on staring at Poseidon with a weird look he couldn't really comprehend. _

_Everything was quiet for a long time, both gods just staring at each other with different expressions, that is until Zeus was heard walking in, "Hey, um, Aphrodite do you know when that party-" Zeus stopped as he saw Poseidon, "Oh, um, Poseidon... What are you doing here?"_

"_I was just talking with Aphrodite about some relationship stuff that's all. Why? What are you doing here?" Poseidon suspiciously asked._

_Zeus narrowed his eyes, "That is none of your concern, brother."_

_Again, silence entered the room, the once tense atmosphere returning. _

"_So, Aphrodite, about that party... when is it?" Zeus spoke, breaking the silence that once was._

"_Tonight." answered Aphrodite._

_Poseidon, feeling left out, asked, "What party?"_

"_The party that happens before every wedding. This is your party after all," Zeus turned to Aphrodite with a questioning look, "You haven't told him yet, have you?"_

"_I was planning on telling him, but we got caught up on some... stuff..." Aphrodite mumbled. _

_Zeus only nodded, "Yes, well, there's a party tonight and well you're the guest of honor, Poseidon."_

"_Thank you, brother," Poseidon looked toward Aphrodite, "Did you plan this?"_

_Aphrodite nodded shyly, but said nothing. She was still confused on what had happened and was thinking of telling Zeus to postpone the party and the wedding. _

"_Well, then, I'll see you both tonight." With that said, Zeus flashed out of the room, leaving Aphrodite and Poseidon alone once again._

"_Aphrodite-" Poseidon tried to say, but was cut off by Aphrodite._

"_Don't... I'll see you tonight Poseidon."_

"_But...I'll see you tonight." Poseidon left with his head hung down in shame._

_Several hours later..._

"_Hey, Aphrodite, about this afternoon... I'm really sorry, I don't-" Poseidon had come over to where Aphrodite stood, holding two wine goblets._

"_Don't worry about it Poseidon. That was all forgotten, just enjoy your party." Aphrodite said, smiling. _

"_Do you want some wine?" Poseidon offered, holding out a wine goblet._

_Aphrodite hesitated, "...Sure."_

_Later that night..._

_Both Aphrodite and Poseidon stumbled into Aphrodite's temple drunk out of their minds. They were having a make out session and seemed to be heading toward Aphrodite's chambers. As both got there Aphrodite hesitated knowing something was wrong even though she was incredibly drunk. _

"_Stop." She slurred._

"_Why?" Poseidon asked, slurring as well. He was kissing her neck, while he said this so, it came out as a mumble._

"_We can't." _

_Poseidon didn't seem to hear her answer as he opened the door to her sleeping chambers and led her toward her bed. _

"_Please, we can't do this." Aphrodite begged, but did not fight as he kept kissing her._

_Once again, Poseidon didn't oblige as she said this. He just wanted her and that's all he knew. As the night went on both gods had gone through a night of love. But Aphrodite's conscious nagged at her every now and then making her beg for him to quit what he was doing before something bad happened. She knew it was useless for she wanted him too._

That night was a mistake on his part. He should have listened to her whims when she told him to stop. He had been drunk, but he still felt part of his mind wide awake, telling him to listen to her and quit the crime he was committing, because truly it was a crime. A sin. The biggest sin he had ever committed next to abandoning his son out in the wilderness and tearing him away from his mother. He was a criminal and nobody would change that.

"Poseidon?" Aphrodite had been staring at Poseidon while he had been in his little memory stage. He had a look of remorse as he stood there motionless.

"Yes?"

"What's wrong?" Aphrodite questioned.

Poseidon only shook his head, "Nothing. Nothing's wrong."

"Well, then, in that case I'll be leaving now." Aphrodite sighed.

"Wait I haven't finished-" But it was too late, Aphrodite had flashed out of the throne room, leaving Poseidon weakened and sad.

Poseidon would never get to tell her how he truly felt about her. He would always carry a burden on his shoulders knowing he practically destroyed Aphrodite when he teared her son away from her. He took a part away from her, because truly her son was a part of her. Her son was a puzzle piece to complete her, and now that puzzle will never be complete, because he stole that puzzle piece. He stole her most prized possession. He stole her life.

…

Perseus had not woken up in his bed like he usually did. He woke up in Artemis' bed, which made him freak out a little. Artemis was practically laying on top of him and that made him sort of lose his cool.

"What the... What am I doing in here?" Percy whispered. He was about to shake Artemis awake but thought better of it. She looked so peaceful to Percy as she slept. He had to smile as he could hear her snore a little.

He began to think on how he got in there and remembered that they both had fallen asleep when he promised to stay by her side. That made him wince. How could he keep such a big promise? He knew he had to stay here at all cost or he would be in serious trouble and danger. He had to think of something. Something that would make him do some sort of U-turn on the promise. Those people would be here soon and they would want to take Artemis with them. She would no longer be able to enter the forest anymore though. If she left the forest, she would no longer be able to find nor enter this forest. He would never see her again.

Percy breathed in a sigh, "Oh, Artie, why do you make this so difficult? Why did I have to fall in love with you, you of all people?"

Artemis seemed to frown in her sleep as if she too didn't understand why.

Percy pushed back a strand of her auburn colored hair away from her face as he admired her features. He had never seen someone so beautiful in his entire life. Well, her and someone else he couldn't get out of his mind. He remembered a grown women with different colored eyes and hair. He also remembered a guy that smelt of the sea... Who were they?

Perseus would always stop and think about those two people that were always on his mind. Maybe they were his parents. But why would they abandon him? He didn't know. If his parents left him out here in the woods to die then that meant they didn't want him. He felt that he was some sort of mistake that couldn't be fixed.

Carefully, Percy stood up from the bed, trying hard not to wake up Artemis. He heard her groan as if she was annoyed that he was leaving. After he was fully up and standing right in front of Artemis he thought about leaving something special behind for her. But what? Then it clicked. A rose. He would leave a rose.

He had never used his powers before, but now he thought was a good time to practice them. He closed his eyes and thought of a rose. He thought of giving it a different color. Something that she would love. He thought of how beautiful her silver eyes were and knew the right color to choose. A silver rose.

The silver rose appeared in all it's silvery glory and glowed as he laid it right beside her.

With that done, Percy walked out of the room taking one last look at the beautiful form of the girl he loved.

Perseus, walked toward some logs and grabbed an axe. They needed some fire in the house and they were almost out of wood. As Percy was about to cut the log right in front of him in half he heard a noise.

Quickly, Percy took a wary stance and took out a hidden knife that he had hooked on his thigh. Seeing nobody come out of the forest surrounding him he asked, "Who's there?"

The response to his question was two people emerging from the trees. It was the people that were looking for Artemis. The two people that were here to take her away from him. Her family.

...

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><p><strong>Uh, Hi Guys... Um, I guess I should really apologize for not Updating sooner. I'm really sorry and I hope you don't hate me for not Updating. I know how it feels on waiting for something and I know that I get impatient at times. But I have an excuse on why I haven't Updated. You see I haven't had a laptop for maybe a month or so and it was horrible. My uncle gave me one of his laptops, while I get a new one so, for now I'm using an old one, well, sort of old. My other excuse is that I've had a lot of problems going on at home and school so don't hate me. I'll try to Update soon, but you'll need to review so I get a little inspiration.<strong>

**Please Review.**

**-PercyxArtemis**


	7. Failing

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Mythology.**

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><p><strong>Failing <strong>

Perseus stood there looking at both strangers, knife in hand, ready to take a stab at anybody who got an inch from him. He was ready for a fight and would not hold back, no, not today. If they were going to take Artemis away from him then they had to fight for her. He would not just give her away that easily.

Leto took a wary step forward, "We don't mean to come and harm you. We're just looking for someone that's all. By any chance do you know who the owner of this forest might be... Um-"

"I know who the owner is and I know who you're looking for. But that answer comes with a price, are you willing to pay that price?" Perseus took on a serious tone.

Apollo stood in front of his mother, "We're not paying you a dime for our questions to be answered, we want answers and we want them now."

"If you know what's good for you boy you wouldn't talk to me that way," Perseus glared at him, "Besides you killed my Python and you'll pay for that crime dearly."

"What! You sent that slimy snake after us?" Apollo growled.

"Yes, do you have a problem with that? Or maybe when my 'Slimy Snake' knocked you into those trees, you lost some brain cells." Perseus taunted him. He knew that if he pushed Apollo, he would attack him therefore letting Percy give him a nice beating.

Apollo instantly took out his bow, "How do you know about that?"

"Do you really think your bow scares me? Anybody can shoot an arrow, actually anybody can shoot better than _you_... like your sister..." Perseus started circling Apollo, twirling his knife around.

"What? What do you mean his sister," Leto quickly stood between both boys, "You know her, don't you? Wait that means... you're Perseus."

Perseus just stared blankly at her, "Maybe... does it matter?"

"Please, whoever you truly are. Tell us where she is. I know that you truly know where she is, just tell us. Please. She's my daughter and I just want her back." Leto pleaded practically kneeling at his feet.

"How do I know you speak the truth? I won't let you take her away unless," Percy struggled to let his words come out, "Unless you prove yourself. That is the only way you'll be able to take her away. Are you willing to pay, not gold, but your life?"

"Well, I wouldn't say-" Leto cut Apollo off.

"Yes, we are willing to do anything to take her back."

"Very, well, let us commence, shall we?" The scene changed completely as Percy said this. They had appeared in an arena that looked like the underworld itself. Screams could be heard, screams of pure torture.

"There shall be three challenges," Percy spoke appearing in silver and black armor, "The first challenge will be easy, it involves hunting down a black dragon, which you will see in a minute. The second challenge may be easy or hard if you so choose it to be. It takes to know yourself to truly win the second challenge. And the last challenge will be a mystery..."

"Wait, we didn't agree to this-" Leto once again had cut Apollo off.

"Shush, Apollo," Leto turned toward Perseus, "Who will take on these challenges, or will we both participate?"

Perseus thought for a moment, "No, I know exactly who I want for these challenges and I choose... Apollo."

"What! No, I will not take part in these silly little games of yours. And especially if there made by _you._" Apollo angrily stated, venom seeping into his voice.

"Then it seems you have already lost. If you don't care about your sister and are not willing to die for her then she shall stay with me." Perseus said defiantly.

"No, no that will not be necessary. Apollo will take part in these challenges that you have ordered him to take on. Won't you Apollo?" Leto quickly spoke. Leto glared at Apollo.

Apollo in response gulped, "Uh, yeah, I-I'll take part in t-these challenges."

"Very well then, let us begin." Percy snapped his fingers and once again the scene changed as they were sent back into the forest.

The forest itself was completely different to the part Leto and Apollo had already been in. It was late at night as Apollo could only see the stars and moon. Both Perseus and Leto had disappeared from Apollo's side, which made Apollo a little worried. The whole forest that surrounded Apollo had a dark aura around the whole perimeter and it also held a creepy feeling.

Apollo, who had his bow out, held it up shakily. He could sense something around him. Something was moving toward him, fast. The sun god surveyed his surroundings looking for any sign of danger or where that awful presence was coming from, but it seemed that every sense in his body would not work.

A roar broke through the forest breaking Apollo from his concentration. A roar with the magnitude bigger then any creature Apollo had ever heard. And it seemed to be coming straight from where Apollo was standing inside the deep dark forest. Instantly, Apollo knew that it was being directed at him. He was the target of the creature that roared and he would soon be a meal for this great beast. The thought really didn't fit into Apollo's head since he was immortal, but then again this forest was filled with all kinds of surprises.

_BOOM! _The earth beneath Apollo's feet shook as something stomped it's way toward the scared sun god. He could see the trees collapse as the enormous creature charged it's way through the dark forest. As the creature got closer Apollo could make out purplish red eyes glaring straight ahead where Apollo stood.

Apollo braced himself hoping to find a way to get out of the situation he was in. _'Oh, father, please spare my life..." _It seemed that Apollo could not find any other conclusion then to pray to his own father.

And as Apollo thought that his time in the world of the living was over, out of the trees came out a small baby dragon about the height of small bush. It's color was pure black and it's eyes were the color of a ripe plum, a very dark purple plum.

"Aw, why look at you," Apollo gushed toward the small baby dragon, "You're not scary at all. It seems that I underestimated the great son of Aphrodite and Poseidon."

Apollo went to go pet the dragon, but the dragon bit at him almost taking his fingers off. At this Apollo seemed offended and he slapped the dragon's head. That was a very bad mistake on Apollo's part. The baby dragon started growing in size until it was bigger then any tree that dominated the forest. The now not so baby dragon glowered down at the sun god, it's dark violet eyes glowing with fiery anger.

The son of Leto looked up in horror, "_Di immortales_..."

There was a moment of silence as both opponents looked at each other. But that moment only lasted a second as the dragon shattered that silence by roaring toward the sky as if announcing a battle cry.

The dragon slashed toward the ground where Apollo stood only seconds ago, confusion written all over the dragon's scaly face. That is until it felt little things poking it's scales. The dragon looked down and saw Apollo shooting arrows toward it's shiny black scales. The dragon roared in Apollo's face spitting dragon saliva all over the poor sun god.

"Gah, you seriously need to wash that mouth of yours. Your breath reeks!" Apollo said disgusted. He tried whipping his face to get rid of the dragon saliva, but to no avail. The saliva was sticky and gooey making Apollo gag. It's saliva stunk worse then it's mouth. It made Apollo want to hurl, but he resisted.

Once again the dragon used it's big claws and slashed toward the disgusted god knocking Apollo into some trees. Apollo's vision blurred as he sat up. He had many cuts around his body and his clothes had many holes.

The dragon made a weird noise in the back of it's throat as if laughing at the injured god. Apollo tried standing up but the force of the dragon's gigantic claws had broken quite a few bones in his body. What Apollo couldn't comprehend was of all the injury's this dragon had caused him in just a matter of seconds. He was a god and this was just some ordinary monster that he could kill with a snap of his finger's... right?

A voice chuckled in Apollo's head, _"You really are dense. You didn't learn your lesson with my Python did you? This is a magical forest that heeds to my ever command. No god besides myself can control this forest and what it contains. You have no power here."_

"What-how did you get in my head?" Apollo asked, bemused.

"_I can do whatever I want in my forest. I can control it and I can control those who enter it as well." _The voice in Apollo's head answered.

"But you haven't controlled me? I'm still in control of my own body," Apollo looked at his hands, "Aren't I?"

"_I didn't say control your body you dimwit! Ugh, you're seriously getting on my nerves. First you go and kill my Python and now you're acting like a little child that barely came into this planet. No, no you're acting as if you were a mere mortal! What I meant by controlling whoever enters my forest meant that I get to have the authority to enter your head and tell you what to do by force!" _The voice stated angrily.

"Isn't that the same thing though? Never mind don't answer that. I don't want you to scream in my head again. Seriously, though, what do you mean by mortal? I am no mortal for your information, Perseus." Apollo argued.

Perseus groaned,_ "Ugh, that was just a saying Apollo, don't take it seriously! Sometimes I think you're not even related to Artemis."_

"Stop comparing me to my sister!" Apollo screamed. He had, had enough of people comparing him to Artemis. Well, at least from his own mother. Leto always bragged on about how smart and helpful Artemis was. It made Apollo feel bad that Leto thought about Artemis being the pride and joy of her world and she never included Apollo in any of her ramblings about how amazing her child was.

"_Someone's jealous. Anyway, you have to get up and hunt my dragon or else you won't pass this test. That is if you even capture it before you die-I mean good luck!" _Perseus hurriedly finished.

"What? What do you mean hunt it down, I can't kill this thing," Apollo's eyes widened as he caught on to the whole die thing, "Wait, what do you mean 'before I die'?"

There was no answer.

Apollo heard the dragon stomp it's way through the forest. He didn't have much time before the beast got to him. Quickly, Apollo stood up, grabbing onto the pieces of wood that were once trees, and limped looking for any place to hide and think of a plan to capture the dragon without killing it. That is if he survived without getting killed.

"_The first challenge is easy, it involves hunting down a black dragon,_" Apollo imitated Perseus. He scoffed, "Ha! Easy my immortal ass!"

There was another roar as the dragon's stomps got closer. Apollo felt himself losing part of his 'I don't care' attitude as he saw the dark sky light up with a purplish black fire. The dragon was gaining up on him and he didn't know how much longer he could take of all this nonsense. He was tired and hungry. He wanted to be up on Olympus with the rest of the gods, drinking and eating the food of the gods, but no, he had to come down and save his selfish sister, Artemis.

"Ugh, If only you were never born, I would have gotten all of the attention from mother." Apollo grumbled to himself. The forest ground shook as if taking that as an offense. As if he was talking to the forest itself and not about his sister.

Apollo looked to the sky,"What in Hades did I do to get stuck into this stupid situation, father?"

Once again he was ignored.

He was talking to himself. Apollo knew that the first sign of insanity was having a whole conversation with yourself, especially all the time. And that was definitely happening with him. Could a god even become crazy? Apollo didn't even know that answer himself. Everything in this world no longer made sense seeing that he could get physically hurt by anything in this stupid forest. Maybe he is mentally ill.

He heard trees being yanked out of their roots as the dragon bit the trees hoping to find it's prey. But no such luck, Apollo had already found a cave to hide in for the meantime, while he thought up a plan to hunt down the beast.

There was a snorting sound as the dragon smelt the air for the scent of it's prey. Apollo could sort of make out the dragon's scent, but all his senses were being blocked. And about the whole thinking about a plan wasn't really Apollo's thing. If only Athena were here then he'd get a free pass by skipping this whole 'Challenge' thing.

He knew he was useless and arrogant. He always bragged about being the greatest, but truly he was just a big failure. Perseus was right about him being jealous of his sister. She was always prided by his mother and his father, Zeus, couldn't wait to meet his daughter. Even though Zeus kept that to himself because of Hera. Hera always had Zeus by the ear if he did anything wrong and in Apollo's eyes it was funny. Hera hadn't forgiven Zeus since he had Artemis and Apollo with Leto. She hated Apollo and Apollo couldn't wait for Artemis and Hera to meet. There would finally be somebody out there that hated his sister and he was eager to find out how it all went down.

Deep inside, Apollo knew it was only jealousy and nothing else. He hated his sister, but she was still his sister. His own blood, his twin. They were complete opposites. She was an intelligent, prided, young woman, while he was just... Apollo.

Apollo put his head in his hands, "I'm a complete moron."

The scene once again changed making Apollo jump. He was back to the normal none freaky forest. There were no more grunts nor roars. It was just peaceful.

"Well, done Apollo. You have passed the first challenge. I... guess I should forgive myself for underestimating you." Perseus came out with the same armor, but he no longer held a serious tone. It was quite playful actually.

"What? What do you mean I completed the challenge? I didn't even kill the thing! I just sat there like a total wimp and thought about my own emotions. I should still be out there on the field and be thinking on a tactic on how to kill that stupid creation of yours!" Apollo looked at his enemy with a bemused expression.

Percy just chuckled, "Stupid creation, huh? Well, do you want to be sent back and get that pretty little face of yours deranged?"

"N-n-no. I was just saying... I mean I would of killed that thing." Apollo huffed, crossing his arms.

Perseus burst out laughing, "Y-you kill-Ha! By the looks of you, you could have totally took on that 'thing'."

"See you even-wait a minute you were being sarcastic weren't you? You don't think I could have taken on that dragon, huh? Well, send me back and I'll show that little creation of yours who's boss!" Apollo disputed.

"You really think so? You know what I'm not even going to argue with you. On to your next challenge, sunny." Percy smiled a genuine smile only reserved for his friends. It said a lot about his feeling about another person. Perseus seemed to like Apollo. Not for Apollo's selfish and arrogant behavior but for the playful behavior that Apollo held deep, deep, very deep inside of him.

"So, you're just going to let me pass the first challenge without doing nothing? Wow that says a lot about you." Apollo commented rather smugly.

Percy once again chuckled, "No, you passed the first test. You see what I meant by hunting down the black dragon truly meant hunting down the black dragon that's inside of you. By that I mean seeing your faults that you hold and realizing what you truly are and who you usually think yourself to be. A proud arrogant bastard."

"I am no bastard! Who are you calling a bast-wait then why did you send that black dragon after me then?" Apollo was mad, but he was curious on why Perseus had sent an actual black dragon after him when he actually needed to see what faults he held.

"Oh, that was just to scare the living daylights out of you," Percy laughed, but quickly regained his temperament seeing Apollo's glare, "That and to make you think on what was more important, which I guess for you it's still yourself. I can't comprehend how you passed it, but I'll let this slide for now."

"Wait, but that doesn't mean I-" Perseus cut him off.

"There's no time for you to argue with me and for me to actually take my precious time to listen to you, you must now start the second challenge and well, good luck!" Apollo was going to argue, but Perseus snapped his fingers making the whole forest twist and turn. Once the image cleared, Apollo could see that he was still standing in the same place the only difference was that Percy disappeared and the area seemed hotter than usual.

Out of nowhere a blue fireball was thrown in Apollo's direction. Apollo only reacted at the last second by ducking and letting the fireball slam into the oak trees that were behind him.

"What the Hades?" Apollo looked toward the direction where the fireball was thrown from. A blue fiery figure stood glaring at Apollo with blue mesmerizing eyes.

The blue fiery figure began walking toward Apollo making Apollo take a wary stance.

"Who are you?" Apollo questioned the figure.

"I'm Apollo." The figure 'Apollo' answered.

Apollo quizzically looked at the figure, "What? No, I'm Apollo."

"No, no I'm Apollo and you are a phony." The figure argued. As the figure got closer Apollo could make out the figure more better then where it once stood. The figure had blonde hair and blue eyes. It held a blue aura to it's skin and it had a tan complexion. It looked exactly like Apollo, except for the blue part of course.

Apollo shook his head, "You've got it wrong, 'Apollo'. I'm the real Apollo. My mother picked out that name for me when I was born, you seem to be another creation of Perseus' messed up mind."

"I am Apollo." The fake Apollo said, "Why are you stealing _my _identity?"

"No, _I'm _the real Apollo, okay? Stop trying to steal _my _identity. Seriously." The real Apollo spoke like he was talking to a little five year old. The other Apollo didn't seem too happy about that.

"I am no idiot for you to talk to me that way. But it seems that you are. I am the real Apollo and that is final. Since you are trying to act like moi, then I guess I'll have to help you find yourself and not copy someone as awesome as me. There is only one Apollo and that is _me_. You got that thief?" The fiery blue Apollo seemed to act like the real Apollo and if it weren't for the blue aura around the fake one then they would have definitely looked like clones of each other.

Apollo looked at 'Apollo' incredulously, "What do you mean by 'find yourself'? _I'm the real Apollo_. You're just a copy of _me_. Not the other way around!"

The fake Apollo gritted his teeth, "No! _I'm Apollo_! Stop trying trying to steal _my identity_, you criminal!"

With that said the fake Apollo burst into blue flames, made a back flip, and created a blue fireball, throwing the glowing object toward the real Apollo. Apollo had no time to react as the blue fiery flame came straight at him at the speeds of light itself, it nailed him right in the chest and was sent flying into a bush.

"Ugh, you have got to be kidding me! I can't even do that-" Apollo was cut off as another blue fireball was sent flying once again in the same direction Apollo stood. He jumped out of the way just in time for the blue flame to land where he had landed in the first place.

Apollo turned to 'Apollo' wide eyed, "You could have killed me! What's wrong with you?"

"Ha! You deserve more than that, thief! You say that you're me well, then you should know how I work then, right? I'm the great Phobeus Apollo and you are a measly identity thief that thinks that could steal from me, the great son of Zeus? Don't make me laugh!" 'Apollo' said, laughing evilly.

"What, but I'm not this arrogant, am I?" Apollo looked ashamed as he realized he did in fact act like that, "I can't believe what I've become..."

'Apollo' in question looked at Apollo, eyes narrowed, "Why do you speak of yourself like that? Aren't you proud of being me? If you really say you are me, then you should be as handsome and proud as I am."

"No, you're right, I'm not you. I'm me. I'm Phobeus Apollo, son of Leto and Zeus, twin brother of Artemis, and I'm here to save my family and sacrifice myself for the ones I love. You are an arrogant son of a bitch that thinks too highly of himself. And now prepare to die." Apollo spoke menacingly.

Apollo concentrated, imagining a ball of white flaming fire strong enough to make a whole city erupt into flames in a matter of seconds.

As this happened the fake Apollo laughed, "You can never destroy me! I'm better than even my mighty father, Zeus, and I will never-"

'Apollo' was cut off as the real Apollo shot a flaming white ball of fire that hit the cocky fake Apollo in the exact same spot where he had hit Apollo. Perseus' creation was sent flying into the sky, smoke, and burning skin filling the forest air.

The earth shook with the magnitude of a small meteor hitting planet earth as the fake Apollo landed, skidding to a halt. Apollo urged himself to run at the same speed, but without the whole falling to the earth thing.

Coughing, 'Apollo' shakily stood up, "How dare you attack me you stupid imposture! I shall tell my father of your crime and enjoy having you beheaded!"

The real Apollo growled but said nothing. He closed his eyes and concentrated once more on his inner powers, hoping what he was about to do next, worked. The smell of burning skin got stronger as the blue fiery Apollo clone began to smoke once more. Perseus' creation started to bubble as if being boiled in a slow flame.

"What are you doing! No, you idiot. NO! Stop that this instant! STOP! NO!" The clone screamed in agonizing pain. It's face started dissolving and it's last words got to Apollo. "Well done, godling." It said.

Apollo collapsed feeling his powers practically gone and drawn out of him. He was a god, but he was terrible at using his powers. He had never been good at using them and had never fully mastered them. He was still a god in training and a bad one at that. A sword was thrown in front of him.

"Fight." Perseus' voice rang throughout the whole forest.

Apollo looked up to see Perseus himself standing in normal clothes, the armor no longer protecting his body. Perseus only stood tall, a shield in one hand, and a sword in the other.

"Fight." Perseus repeated once more.

Apollo confoundedly looked at his enemy, "What? I just finished my second challenge, aren't you going to snap your fingers and make the world twist and turn again? Why would I fight you anyway?"

"You finished your second challenge and now you begin your third and final challenge. Pick up the sword and fight." Perseus said sternly.

"I-I don't get it. What's my third challenge then?" Apollo questioned.

Percy pointed his sword at Apollo's neck, "Your final challenge is for you to fight the creator of this forest and that creator is me. You shall fight me and I shall see if you're worthy enough to take your sister home with you. Fight me."

Apollo shakily reached for the sword on the floor and stood up, Perseus' sword still pointed at his neck.

"When do we start?" Apollo asked, still frozen in place.

"Now."

Apollo too slow to comprehend what Percy was saying, stood there dumbfounded. Percy took that as an advantage and knocked Apollo's sword out of his hand and slammed his foot in Apollo's already wounded chest.

Apollo groaned, kneeling, and coughing up golden blood, "I-I wasn't even ready!"

Percy didn't answer, he only used his sword and slashed Apollo's cheek. Apollo's cheek erupted in pain as it started gushing out golden blood. Percy slashed once more at Apollo's chest and kicked the poor sun god in the chest again, sending the bloody son of Leto to the ground.

"Well, well, I thought you said you could fight. Too bad Leto won't see neither of her children once I'm finished off with you." Perseus circled Apollo, "Nor will your sister ever meet her real family. Your cockiness got you this far and it seems this is all you'll ever reach. You're worthless and useless. A disgrace for an Olympian god."

Apollo struggled to get himself up, "I am no disgrace. I'll let Artemis see her real family even if it kills me, which will probably actually happen seeing as you wish to see me dead."

"I don't wish it. I only want you to see what all of your arrogant mannerisms get you into. You act as if you were better then any god to walk this earth and you also think you have everything. Do you see me acting like a brat even though I have this whole forest to my self. I have everything but I don't act like you." Percy spoke, but Apollo could sense an uneasy tone in Perseus' voice.

Apollo shook his head, "You don't have everything. In fact you have nothing."

"And why would you say that?" Percy asked, smugly.

"You don't have a mother nor a father." Apollo answered.

Somewhere you could see it hit. The pain. The pain was bigger then any wound Perseus had made to the sun god.

Percy looked to the floor, "Yes, I don't have any, but you do. And you should be happy that you actually have a mother to love you and a father to at least care about you. No matter how badly you treat them they'll always love you, while I will never be loved. I am an orphan. All the riches you have don't compare to any family member or friend. I have no family and I only have one friend. You're right, Apollo. I have nobody."

Apollo could see the pain and sadness in his eyes. Percy was hurting, badly. And it was all his fault. Apollo had brought Perseus pain. Apollo was about to rub it in Perseus' face but stopped short. He was taking advantage of a person in pain and it made Apollo feel bad. If he made Percy feel bad then he had to be the most evil person to ever hit the world.

Immediately, Apollo spoke, "I'm sorry I didn't-"

"You win." Percy snapped his fingers one last time.

Apollo appeared back to where Leto and Apollo had found Perseus. He looked around and found his mother standing right beside him.

Leto hugged Apollo tightly, "Oh, Apollo, I thought I lost you."

That had been the first time Leto had ever actually worried about him. It made Apollo tear up, "Yeah, I'm back."

"Well, since Apollo completed his challenges, I believe I owe you both an apology and also a promise." Percy spoke, clearing his throat. His eyes still held the pain that Apollo had seen when they had been fighting.

"Let's go find, Artemis, shall we?"

…

Artemis had woken up from her deep sleep to find that Percy had left, but a rose laid in his place. A silver rose. Artemis rubbed the sleep from her eyes and picked up the delicate rose. It glowed with an aura of power. Instantly, Artemis knew that Percy had used his powers to create it. Percy. That reminded her, where could he have possibly gone?

Thinking to go look for him, she jumped out of bed, and ran, with the rose in her hand, to look for Perseus.

He was always getting himself into trouble and Artemis was the one to save his sorry butt all the time. He had grown since the day they had met. He was handsome, intelligent (at times), and heroic. She would never tell him this, but she found herself falling more and more for him everyday. The thought of ever loving Percy sent a slight electric current through her. As the days went by, she noticed that she had gotten attached to the oblivious godling. She knew that if they were to ever be broken apart, she would be a total wreck. Her life wouldn't be the same without him.

She was walking though the forest as she thought about this and had not noticed the twigs snapping behind her until the last minute. She turned in a haste, hoping it was Perseus.

Surprisingly, it was, but not only was it he but two other people were with him. One fully grown young woman and a young boy. When the three saw her, their eyes widened. Percy was the only one not surprised. Something caught Artemis' eyes when she locked eyes with him. Sadness could be seen as he looked at her. Sadness undescribible.

The fully grown young woman ran to Artemis and hugged her, surprising Artemis enough to drop the silver rose that she held.

"Oh, Artemis, my little girl. You don't know how I've missed you." The grown woman spoke, while crying.

Artemis looked to Perseus for any answers to why this woman was hugging her, but the only thing he did was hang his head in shame. Percy looked like he gave up on something. Like he had failed. And truly he had, because now it was time to give Artemis away. His only friend. His companion.

His love.

...

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><p><strong>Hey guys! I thought I'd upload today since it's Valentine's Day, y'know. So this is like a Valentine's present from me to you. But also, I update this story for a reason. I may not have a lot of time to actually update this story soon. I'm even thinking I should delete it, but I want all of your opinions. I don't know if I should continue it or if I should delete it. Please tell me if I should continue or delete this story. I've been really busy and I don't know If I can put my time into this story. I do have a lot of ideas for this story it's just that I don't have time. But if you guys want me to continue then I'll try my best to Update. Thanks you to all my reviewers for reviewing and for putting this on your favorites list. Thanks for reading!<strong>

**Please Review!**

**Happy Valentine's Day!**

**-PercyxArtemis**


	8. Dream to Nightmare

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Mythology.**

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><p><strong>Dream to Nightmare<strong>

Artemis quickly pulled away from the hold the woman had on her. She didn't know why these people were here if no mortal nor god had ever come into this forest. Percy had told her that it was impossible for anyone to get in or out of the forest. How come these people were here then? She was very confused and looked at Perseus for answers but he still had his head down.

"W-what's going on? Who are you?" Artemis stuttered, but quickly regained her composure knowing it seemed wrong to look weak in front of strangers.

Perseus raised his head, "I'll answer that. Can I have a word with you... Artemis?"

Artemis was now worried. Perseus had _never_ called her Artemis, it was always Artie this and Artie that, even when he was mad. All she could do was nod and let herself be led aside by Percy and away from the two strangers.

When they were a well distance away from the strangers Percy spoke, "Artemis I need to tell you something and you may or may not believe me... Those two people are..." Perseus paused, swallowing the big lump that was stuck in his throat, but he continued forcing the words out of his mouth, "...are your family."

"What?"

"Look Artemis I just found this out yesterday and I didn't want to tell you before I fully knew the truth... I'm really, really sorry. That's the reason I was gone so long, yesterday, I'm sorry." Percy pleadingly met Artemis' eyes. Artemis could only look at Perseus' eyes in confusion.

Artemis looked toward the ground and thought about the new information Percy had given her. It had to be a lie. She didn't have any family. She was an orphan just like Perseus. It was a lie, a bluff, a full out prevarication.

Her anger flared, "Why are you lying to me Percy! I can't believe this nor do I believe you! I can't believe you'd stoop so low as to lie to me about this."

"I'm not lying, Artemis-"

"Stop calling me that! Why are you even calling me by my real name? It's Artie." Artemis swallowed, feeling tears pooling in her eyes. She was remembering her dream and the way he had said her real name, venom seeping into the voice of the man she cared about.

Perseus had found an interest in the forest ground. He knew his reasons on why he stopped calling her Artie. If he used her nickname he gave her it would make it even harder to let her go.

"I'm sorry but I can't help it... I just... I'm sorry." Percy shook his head sadly. He was still facing the ground, but he quickly turned around so he could cover up his tears and not let Artemis see him. She had never seen a single tear from him and it would not help to start now. He couldn't hold it anymore, he had to release this pain that was tugging at his heart. He remembered Apollo's words about not having a family and the pain was doubled. He let the hot tears fall silently.

"It's the truth, Artemis. They are your family, well, part of your family that is. The woman is your mother and the young boy is your little brother. They both came looking for you and they begged me to take them to where you were. I gave them some deterrents so I could postpone your meeting with them, but... they seem to really care about you. I'm not lying Artemis. You need to believe me in this, you need to trust me... I'm really sorry." Perseus sniffled.

By the sound of his voice, Artemis knew that he was crying. It surprised her. Even though Perseus acted like a child he was actually pretty pugnacious. He always protected her from any harm and would never hold back. She knew that for him to cry, it took a lot. Something was bothering him and she knew it. He was hiding something from her.

"Are you crying?" She asked, even though she knew he was.

"No. I'm just... really happy for you that you finally get to meet your... family." Perseus responded, his voice thick with emotion.

Artemis sighed, sadly, "I don't even know them. How can they be my family?"

"Artemis, I don't know if I should tell you this, but... You remember that ocean that we jumped in when we were being chased by those monsters?"

Artemis nodded her head.

"Well, that ocean is not an ordinary ocean, um, it's connected with a river from the underworld, the Lethe." Perseus nervously turned around, wet, golden tears still flowing down his tan cheeks.

"What? What does that river have to do with us jumping into the sea. It wasn't the Styx so... we're still alive aren't we?" Artemis answered, bemused.

"You don't understand, that river is dangerous, not like the Styx, but it's dangerous. When you jump into any source that connects or even has a drop of the Lethe, it makes you forget everything from when you were born to the day you jumped into that source of water." Percy explained.

Artemis looked at the light blue sky in thought, "Then how come I still remembered my name and when we were being chased by those monsters? I still remember that."

"Because I was with you."

Artemis shook her head, "That doesn't make any sense. It doesn't really make any difference if you're there with me or not... does it?"

"It does. I don't know why, but it does. I don't remember much about my old life nor when I was born either, but I know that I wasn't wanted. Why would my family leave me here in the first place? Anyway, when I was with you I promised myself that I would protect you at all costs and that you'd be safe, I prayed. To whom? I don't know. But I prayed for us to make it safely to the land below the cliff. I prayed for _you_ to make it safely." Percy answered, a sad voice accompanying the nervous one he still held.

"Why?" Artemis asked, "Why would you do that if you didn't even know who I was? I was a stranger and you still helped me? Why?"

"I don't know. I wasn't really thinking at the time... But you need to go spend some time with your family. They really have missed you. I need to go catch my breath for a second. Many things are happening that I can't even comprehend. Please, just get to know them... They love you." Perseus was about to leave when she caught his arm.

Perseus turned and they're eyes locked. Percy could see the terror that her eyes held, she was scared and he knew it.

"You're just going to leave me with these people," Artemis shook her head angrily, "Strangers that I don't even know?"

Percy shook his head, "They're your family. They are no strangers. Give them a chance, Artemis, you may even like them."

"What happened to, 'I'll always be there for you.'? You promised you'd always stay by my side and now you're thinking of breaking that promise so soon? Stay with me." Artemis demanded.

"Artemis-"

"It's Artie." Artemis snapped

Percy grimaced, "Artemis _is _your name, isn't it. I just thought I'd try it out, don't need to get all snappy with me. Seriously, though, I'm just going to get some air and think some things through."

"Percy, please, I need you. Don't leave me now when I need you the most." Artemis pleaded, "I can't do this alone. Don't leave. Stay with me."

Percy made the mistake of looking into her silver eyes, silver pooled eyes that he got lost in every time he looked at them. Her eyes held her emotions that she held deep inside of her. Lost and scared. Percy bit his lip, "I-I guess I'll stay for a little while."

Artemis gave a small smile, "Thanks."

Both gods walked back to Artemis' unknown family without saying a word. Artemis still believed he was hiding something, but she just didn't know what. Something was bothering the sad godling and Artemis just wanted to hug him and comfort him. Now that her 'family' was here, would that separate them? Would he leave her? Artemis shook her head. _'No, he would never do that. He promised to always stay by my side. He'll never break it, never.' _Artemis didn't feel too reassured.

When they got back, Artemis' mother and brother were talking quietly to each other, but when they saw Artemis and Percy come into view they quickly stood up straight and faced Artemis. Artemis in turn gave them a small smile feeling too shy to do anything else of the sort.

Percy looked at her and nodded his head turning to look at her mother and brother. Everything seemed awkward between the four gods as they stood there not knowing what to say or do.

Perseus broke the silence, "Um, why don't we go to our house and talk over there, shall we?"

Artemis only nodded, while the other two gods followed her example. All four gods walked silently through the gloomy forest. Artemis noticed that it seemed less cheerful, as if something or more better someone were controlling its emotions. It seemed strange talking about a forest having actual feelings, but to Artemis, it felt that way. She looked toward Perseus and saw a sad, thoughtful expression on his face, and quickly frowned at the look he wore.

"We're here." Percy announced, knocking Artemis out of her thoughts.

Percy opened the door to the house where he and Artemis were staying, letting all of them in before he walked in and closed the door behind them.

"Well, you three have a lot to talk about so, I'm just going to go, while all of you catch up, okay?" Before he could even walk out the door, Artemis stopped him.

"Percy, aren't you going to stay like you told me you would?"

Percy looked innocently at her, "Um, did I say that? I meant that I'd come back and..." Artemis gave him a glare, "Do I have to?"

Artemis nodded.

Percy grumbled and grabbed a wooden chair that was part of the wooden table and sat there whining. The two other gods looked amused by the way the godling acted and also, how Artemis, with just one glare made him obey to her every command. Apollo seemed the most amused.

"Artemis, meet your mother, Leto, and your brother, Apollo." Perseus introduced the two gods that were known as Artemis' family.

Artemis gave them another small smile, "It's nice to meet you both."

They both nodded, but Leto had a heavyhearted smile on her lips.

"Well, then, would any of you like something to eat, drink, anything?" Percy offered.

Leto shook her head, but Apollo nodded excitedly, "Yeah, do you have any ambrosia or nectar?" Leto slapped Apollo in the arm, "What? I'm hungry, you didn't fight for your life a few minutes ago, did you?"

Perseus shook his head, a smile on his lips, "As a matter of fact, we do. Is that all or do you want something more, Apollo?"

"No, that's all, thanks."

Percy stood from his spot and went to go get the food of the gods for the hungry godling better known as Apollo.

While Percy left it got silent with the trio as they sat on the wooden chairs in silence, but that only lasted a while before Apollo spoke, "You seem to be living life nicely in this forest, aren't you? With a god like Perseus you must be protected and all, am I right?"

Artemis turned her attention to Apollo, "I guess I mean he is a little too over protective and all, but he's really sweet and kind. I bet he treated you respectably when he met you, didn't he?"

Apollo scoffed, "If respectably means practically killing me, then yeah, I guess he treated me 'respectably'."

"Apollo!" Leto slapped Apollo's arm once more, "Give yourself an attitude check before I give one for you."

"Sorry."

Artemis smiled at Apollo's playful antics. He seemed a lot like Percy actually. She found herself actually liking these people that were sitting before her. She even found herself thinking that they would be a great family, along with Perseus, to live with her for the rest of her immortal life. Immediately, Artemis frowned, thinking about Percy and how he had been acting rather weird lately. Every time she would see him very cogitative and sad, but not like how she saw him a minute ago. He seemed... different.

Percy had been on her mind a lot lately. She always found herself watching him from afar. He would always make her laugh and smile because of his infelicitous and oblivious behavior. When she was mournful or aggravated he would always find different ways to make her laugh and she would feel something stir inside of her, something that made her feel like she was flying, flying so high, and if she would ever fall, Percy would always catch her.

Percy came stumbling into the room, holding the nectar and ambrosia, "Here you go, Apollo."

Apollo grabbed the nectar and ambrosia and immediately dug in.

"So, did I miss anything?" Percy asked, while sitting down beside Artemis.

Artemis shook her head, but said nothing. Perseus looked toward the two other gods and found Leto frowning deeply.

"What's wrong, Leto? Is something wrong?" Percy asked, uneasily.

Leto looked at Perseus, "No, it's just that, um, how are we going to leave this forest? All we know is how do get in, but we don't know how to get out? Do you by any chance know how to?"

Percy grimaced, "Yes, I do, actually. When would you like to leave?"

"Tomorrow if possible."

Percy nodded sadly, but Artemis on the other hand was perplexed, "What do you mean leave? Where are you going?"

"Um, actually Artemis, you're going as well." Percy answered, wistfully.

"What? If I'm leaving, you're going with us right?" Artemis questioned.

For a moment, Percy was silent and Artemis began to worry. She thought he would say yes right away, but as the time went by and the silence grew thick, Perseus answered, "Uh, yeah. I'll be going..."

Something about his voice made Artemis unstable. Right away, Artemis knew that Perseus didn't want to come. She knew that he had struggled to promise her to stay by her side at all times, even when she made a big decision. And this seemed like one of those occasions. She also noticed that he was very nervous because his foot wouldn't stop tapping the ground.

Leto took the next chance to speak seeing as it was very quiet, "So, you're going with us? This will be wonderful, you'll find Olympus very comfortable and hospitable."

"What's Olympus?" Artemis asked, trying to take her mind off Perseus for a while. She also remembered that word coming out of Perseus' mouth in her dream. She became very curious.

"It's the place where your father, Zeus, lives. He has a wife of course, but Apollo lives there and I as well. You have many step-brothers and step-sisters. Hopefully you get along well with them...And as for Perseus, I don't know, but he can stay with us if he'd like to..." Leto was careful with choosing her words. She still wasn't sure who his parents were, but people kept talking about Aphrodite and Poseidon having some affair, which probably created Perseus. Even though everything clearly pointed out that Aphrodite and Poseidon were his parents. It would also make Poseidon look bad, because he had just married his fiancé, Amphitrite.

"Wait, does that mean I have a step-mother as well?" Artemis asked, incredulously.

Leto nodded sadly, "I'm afraid so. I really don't know what to say about that... woman. She-her name is Hera and she is rather... hateful about her husband having other children with other... woman."

Artemis could sense the hate and venom seeping from her mother's voice as she talked about, Hera. She didn't know what happened between her mother and Hera, but it seemed to bother Artemis in the very back of her mind. It was like her immortal brain was trying hard to remember some things, but it couldn't do it. Maybe she had lost her memory in the sea when she jumped in. What if Percy was right? But how did he know about it?

"But don't worry about Hera, she's just, well, Hera. Ignore her and you'll be fine. With Percy by your side, you'll be safe." Leto had knocked Artemis out of her thoughts. She had a smirk on her face as she said this. It was noticeable that Percy and Artemis liked each other, but neither would admit it to one another. _'Young Love...' _Leto knew that if she wanted someone to marry her little girl, it would be Perseus.

Artemis' cheeks began to turn gold as she felt a surge of blood come up to her cheeks, she was blushing, "I guess..." was all she said to at least hide the fact that she liked Percy.

Leto only nodded conforming her suspicions on her daughter's love. Apollo had been chewing when he noticed Artemis' cheeks turn gold. He grinned, knowing something was up between his sister and Perseus. Even though he hated the guy it didn't mean he thought that Percy was a great candidate to marry his sister, Artemis. Somehow, he knew that Percy would make her very happy.

Percy, as oblivious as ever, was playing with a piece of string that hung lose from his clothing.

Percy looked up when Leto cleared her throat to get everybody's attention, "We'll be leaving tomorrow morning then, right?"

"Y-yeah." Percy stuttered.

"Well, then, why don't the both of you get packing for tomorrow, then? Pack lightly of course." Leto stood up from her seat and hulled Apollo from his seat making the sun god drop a piece of ambrosia.

"Mom! You made me drop my ambrosia." Apollo whined.

"Stop whining, Apollo. It isn't very grown up of you to whine like that." Leto turned to Perseus, "If it isn't too much to ask, can we have a place to stay?"

"Yes, of course. You can take my room. It's just down the hall, to your right." Percy pointed toward his room.

Leto nodded and led Apollo to the room, while she stood there for a second, waiting for Artemis. But Artemis didn't seem to notice for she only had eyes for Perseus. Leto shook her head, amused, and headed toward Perseus' room.

As both gods were left alone, Perseus and Artemis stood there in silence for a moment. Percy was looking out the kitchen window, while Artemis stared at him, trying to figure out what was wrong with the broody godling.

Artemis looked out the window as well, "What are you thinking, Percy."

"Nothing." Perseus sighed.

Artemis was about to say something, but Percy began walking out of the house. She followed Perseus' lead seeing something clearly wrong with him.

"Percy, wait." She ran up to him, "Where are you going?"

"Huh, Oh, Artie, didn't see you there." Percy smiled, "I'm just going to get some fresh air is all. Why?"

"What's going on with you, you seem more distant and gloomy. Did something bad happen?" Artemis asked, but she was awfully happy that he started calling her by the nickname he had gave her.

Perseus' face darkened for a moment, but only a moment, "Nothing, it's just that... I'm nervous to leave my home and I don't know if I could make it out there... I'm just, afraid."

"No, that's not true. You're never afraid of anything... There's something else that's bothering you, what is it?" Artemis demanded.

"Are you interrogating me?" Percy inquired.

"Maybe," Artemis responded, "Now answer my question. What's really bothering you, Percy?"

Percy smiled, a smile that made Artemis' head go numb, "Come one, Artie. Nothing's wrong with me. Stop worrying so much and be happy that your family's here. Go and spend some time with them."

"But I don't want to. I want to spend some time with... you." Artemis answered, shyly.

Percy froze, "What? Why do you want to spend time with me all of a sudden. Didn't you say I was the most annoying person you ever met?"

"No, I was just joking," Artemis frowned, clearly not seeing why he didn't want to spend time with her, "Besides, you're hiding something from me, and I want to know what that 'something' is."

Percy sighed, not knowing what to say. She suspected something and he knew it. He had to come up with a plan to not go with her. But what? _'If I go with her and leave my forest I'll surely get in trouble. And Besides, I'm a burden to her and I should let her live her life without me lingering behind it. She has a family and I... Don't."_

"Please, Artie, it's complicated and you wouldn't understand. Can I just have a moment alone, please." He pleaded. Artemis looked at him, hurt evident in her eyes. It hurt Percy seeing her like that, but he had to think and Artemis being there was not helping him. It made him want to ditch his forest and actually follow her.

Artemis nodded sadly and turned around not looking back. Why was he acting so strange? He always trusted her with all his secrets, especially the one's that hurt him the most. At least she thought he did. Now she didn't know what to think. He was trying to push her away, but why? Couldn't he see that she wanted to help him? She needed him.

She walked back to the house and there she decided to spend some time with her 'family'.

…

Percy breathed in a sigh as he sat down on the beach, beside the restless ocean. The ocean of lost memories, Percy had called it. Something about the ocean made him calm and relaxed. It cleared his mind of all the problems he had, like loving the woman he could never have. Artemis.

"Soon, I'll have to let you go, and I don't know if I'm ready to. I love you." Percy spoke referring to Artemis even though she wasn't there. It was good that she wasn't there when he said that for he didn't even have the guts to tell her how much he felt about her. How every time she smiled, it made Percy feel that his whole world was complete. And her eyes. Those silver pooled eyes that gave Perseus courage to continue on. But all of that would soon go away.

Percy put his head in his hands and began to sob. Heart wrenching sobs that echoed through the beach.

"I-I don't want y-you to g-go, but I-I have t-to set you f-free." Percy stuttered, while crying, "Y-you're my o-only friend... D-don't leave me."

After a while his sobs had quieted down. Tears still flowed down, but not as much as before.

Footsteps could be heard behind him and he knew exactly who it was by the heat that he began to feel. A warm breeze flew by as the person sat down next to him. It was Apollo.

Apollo didn't know how to start, but he thought an apology should be given after the incident that happened on the battlefield, "Look, I don't like you, but I'm sorry for the way I acted back there. I shouldn't have said all those things and... I'm really sorry. You may not forgive me, but I just need this feeling off my back. The guilt."

"It's fine." Percy sniffled.

"Are you crying?" Apollo asked, baffled.

Percy whipped the remaining tears that fell from his eyes, "Maybe. Why would you care, anyway?"

Apollo was quiet for a moment, mulling over on what to say. He really didn't know what to do in one of these situations. He was used to comforting his mom, but it was really different with Perseus. Percy had lost his family and Leto had lost a child. Leto had gotten back her child, but Percy would never get his family or old life back. It was a fact not an opinion.

Leto had told Apollo about Percy being the child of Aphrodite and Poseidon. Poseidon was married to Amphitrite and Aphrodite was the goddess of love. It was just a one time thing between Aphrodite and Poseidon and the people who guessed that they had, had a relationship knew that they would never get into a permanent relationship. Aphrodite seemed to hate Poseidon with a hate indescribable. No one knew why, but now Apollo had his suspicions. Poseidon took Aphrodite's child, Perseus, and now it was full out war between the god of the seas and the goddess of love.

"Because you're going to be living with me for the next millennium and I really don't want someone crying all day and all night. That's why." Apollo answered defiantly.

Perseus chuckled, "You're not going to have to. I'm not going."

"What? What do you mean you're not going? You told Artemis and my mother that you were going with us. Was that all just a big lie?" Apollo was surprised to say the least. He expected an insult to come out of Perseus' mouth, but what he had just said astonished Apollo more than the black dragon that he fought for his first challenge.

"I can't leave this place Apollo. This is my home and... I just can't, okay." Perseus replied.

Apollo shook his head angrily, "But you told my sister that you'd go with us. What made you change your mind all of a sudden. If you haven't noticed, she trusts you more than anything in the world and you're just going to throw that trust away? You're a sick person, Perseus."

"I don't have any other choice! I can't leave. You wouldn't understand anything." Percy shouted.

"I understand perfectly fine. You lied to my sister _and _my mother." Apollo stated, huffily.

"I have my reasons and I didn't lie... Completely. I said I'd take you all to the entrance and I'm going to, but I'm not going to Olympus or wherever you live. I'm staying here." Percy deflated as he said that. Tomorrow would be the beginning and end of his world.

"I can't believe it. The strong Perseus that gave me all those challenges is scared. Scared of where I live because you know that something hides up there that you're too scared to uncover. You're a weakling." Apollo was about to leave, but Perseus spoke.

"Yes, I am a weakling. But don't tell your sister about me not going. I can't have her know that."

Apollo scoffed, "I'm going to have to tell her. I'm going to tell her that the person she's been living with for the past two years is a lying bastard."

"Don't do it. It'll hurt her." Percy stood from his sitting position and faced Apollo.

"Not as much as what you're going to do? You're going to ditch her and you say that learning the truth right now will hurt her?" Apollo tried standing to full height, but Perseus was too tall for the small, growing god.

"Look, Apollo, I can't tell her. I promised I'd stand by her side and if she knew about this, she'd kill me. I want her to live her life away from me. I'm dangerous. I can't stand having her in danger or even near danger itself. And I'm that danger." Percy said sadly, hanging his head in shame.

Apollo took a good look at the lost god before him. The sun god mulled Perseus' words and came to the conclusion the he was right. Percy was a big danger and if he wasn't careful he'd have Artemis killed or kidnapped in a second.

"I need to let her go, Apollo. Please understand that I can't keep her close to me." Percy continued, "I love her way too much to keep her close to me. Don't tell her."

Apollo sighed, "What if I don't tell her? What would you do then?"

"I don't know, yet..." Something in Perseus' head clicked, "Apollo, I know we're not on the best of terms, but I need you to promise me something, no, no I need you to swear on the Styx to keep Artemis out of harm at all times. I won't be able to protect her and I need somebody to do it for me. I promised her that I would protect her and keep her out of harms way, but it seems that I won't be able to keep my promises. I need you to swear on the Styx that you'll protect her with your life and you'll love her like the actual brother you are. Please, I'm begging you to do this. Please."

Apollo was shocked to say the least. He knew how big it was to swear to the river Styx. His father and mother told him to never swear something on it or he'd have to go on with his promise until the day he died, which for him that wouldn't happen. He was a forever living god and what Perseus asked of him was something big. If he didn't go on with his word, he'd have something terrible happen to him. Or that's what his family had told him at least.

"Apollo?"

"I don't know if I should-"

"Please Apollo, I'm begging you. I'll even go on my knees if I have to. But I need this from you." Percy pleaded.

"I don't know..." Apollo said, uneasily.

"Please."

Apollo sighed, "I-I swear on the Styx to always protect my sister and never let anything bad happen to her. I'll love her like a brother should love his sister and I'll keep this promise. I swear it." Thunder out of nowhere began rumbling in the distance, hearing the promise, and conforming that it had been made.

Percy gave a sad smile and sat back down. He felt that a big weight had been lifted off his shoulders, well, partially. But the only problem was that he still needed a plan.

Apollo slumped down next to Perseus, "So... What will you do? How are you going to... leave us at the entrance and ditch her?"

"I don't know... Unless you want to help me." Percy kept his gaze on the lively ocean, "Would you?"

"It seems that I don't have any other choice since I'm already here so, I guess I'll help you." Apollo watched Perseus carefully, trying to figure him out.

Percy turned to Apollo, energy surging through Perseus' eyes, "Well, then, here's the plan..."

…

Artemis and Leto had been spending some quality time together as Apollo and Perseus came back from wherever they were. They laughed as if they were the best of friends and that made Artemis sort of jealous. Had Percy replaced her with Apollo? The thought whirled in Artemis' mind. He couldn't have, had he?

Leto knocked Artemis out of her thoughts, "That's really weird. First they're fighting and now they seem like they've known each other forever. Some time's I don't understand your brother and now I don't seem to understand Perseus. They're exactly alike."

"What do you mean they were fighting? What happened?" Artemis asked, bemused.

"The first time they had met, they hated each other. Apollo is too proud of himself and Perseus didn't like that. Perseus gave Apollo three challenges and well, you can guess what happened. It was terrible." Leto was sitting next to her daughter, while they watch the sun go down.

That sounded nothing like the Percy she knew. Perseus wasn't proud at all, in fact Percy was very caring and wouldn't attack others unless it was absolutely necessary. And besides, Percy wasn't a hater and she'd never hate her own brother.

Artemis decided to keep her mouth shut. It wouldn't help to argue with her mother and it would only cause problems.

The other two gods came over and sat down next to the two goddess.

"So, what did we miss?" Asked a zealous Apollo.

"Nothing." Answered Artemis.

Percy let out a big yawn, "I think I'm going to go to bed early. It's been a very interesting day and tomorrow we have another one ahead of us. I'll see you all tomorrow."

The other gods nodded and Apollo seemed the only one to notice the pained look that crossed Perseus' face.

"Bye." Apollo waved, then turned to the two goddess that were looking at him with suspicion, "He seems like a lovely young man, doesn't he?"

Leto reeled back in surprise, "That's oddly nice of you, Apollo."

"Huh, Oh, yeah. I guess." Apollo was way too distracted by his thoughts to even take in the sarcasm that his mother used in that sentence.

Apollo sighed, "Well, I think I'm going to hit the sack too. I'll see you both tomorrow."

With that said, Apollo dragged himself up and slumbered to the house door. Tomorrow was going to be a very long and interesting day. And Apollo didn't even want to wake up for the new tomorrow. The nightmare.

"Those two are acting very strange." Leto thought to herself out loud.

Artemis had to agree, "Yeah, they really are."

"We should probably follow them to bed, shouldn't we?" Leto sighed. She stood up from her sitting position and offered a hand to her daughter, Artemis.

Artemis took it gradually, "I'll see you tomorrow then... Mother."

The last part made Leto tear up. That was the first time in two years that Artemis had ever called her that and it was great to hear it come out of her daughter's mouth. Leto wrapped Artemis in a loving hug and Artemis couldn't help but hug back.

Artemis was the first to let go though, "Goodnight."

Both goddess separated ways as both went to their own rooms. A long day awaited the four gods and Artemis was incredibly tired. Artemis was suddenly reminded of the silver rose that she had dropped in the forest that morning. She wanted to go and get it but as she opened the door to her room and she found a lovely surprise on her bed.

Perseus was sleeping there with the rose in hand.

Artemis shook her head in amusement as she heard Perseus' soft snoring. He was fast asleep and Artemis couldn't help but smile as the young godling decided to sleep in her room.

Artemis walked to her bed and sat down, grabbing the silver rose from his hand, careful not to wake up the knocked out god. She took a whiff of the beautiful flower and enjoyed it's endearing scent. She had to admit that Perseus was very good at picking gifts and couldn't help but look at the peaceful god.

She leaned closer, looking at his beautiful well defined features. His nose, cheekbones, jaw, ... lips. She leaned even closer, her lips only inch's away from his. Artemis could hear his soft breathing.

She decided to take her chances and pecked his lips with a soft kiss, a kiss that filled her with racing joy. Artemis remembered what she had told Perseus about never finding the perfect man to complete her, but she was wrong, she had found exactly the perfect man for that perfect man was asleep right in front of her. The one that completed her in a whole. Her other half.

She lied down and cuddled next to Perseus, still holding the silver rose. She wanted this to last forever. But what she didn't know was that tomorrow the two would separate ways. Her dream would soon be shattered as that tomorrow would come. A tomorrow better known as a nightmare.

…

The sun rose in the sky signaling that the day had come. Percy opened his eyes and was surprised to have Artemis in his arms. For a moment Perseus felt like he was flying. But that moment only lasted a second as he realized that today was the day that he'd have to let her go.

He didn't want to wake her up, but since it was almost time to go. He had to.

"Artie. Come on, it's time to go." Percy shook her. Artemis grumbled in response, but did nothing more.

"Come on, Artie. We can't be late, you have to wake up."

"But I don't want to. Let me sleep, it's too early." Artemis mumbled.

Percy rolled his eyes, "Artie, I think it's early enough. Come on, we need to get ready."

Apollo suddenly appeared out of nowhere and got into Perseus' face, "Good morning, sunshine. How was your night..."

"Holy crap! How did you get in here?" Percy said, startled. He had jumped so hard and fast that it woke up Artemis from her deep sleep.

"What happened? Why'd you-Oh my gods! What are doing here, Apollo?" Artemis questioned.

Apollo backed up and brought out some ambrosia and handed it to both gods, "Oh, you know. I have my ways... Are you both ready for the trip?"

"Sure..." Percy trailed off.

"Well, then, if you're ready, why are you both still in bed, hmm?" Apollo asked, curiously.

Percy scratched his head, "Um, well, we just woke up so... can we have some privacy."

"Sure thing sweetheart. I'll see you both outside. I'm ready to get out of here and the sooner the better." Apollo quickly ran off to get ready for their departure.

"What's up with him?" Artemis was quiet shaken up by the way she was woken up. It was creepy how Apollo just appeared out of nowhere.

Percy shrugged, "Who knows with him... Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I think I am."

"Good. Lets get out of here." Percy breathed a shaky sigh.

"You okay?" Artemis asked, worriedly.

Percy nodded, "Of course I am. Why would you ask?"

"No reason, lets go."

Both gods stood up from the position they were in and walked out. Artemis turned and took a good long look at her room. She would never see it again, but there would be a better one up on Olympus, right? She caught sight of the rose and almost reached to go get it but thought better of it and decided to leave it behind. Percy would give her another one.

She closed the door and followed Percy out of their house door. They both met up with her mother and her brother Apollo outside. They were all ready to go and Artemis was too eager to even think. Something about this scared her, she had a strange feeling that something bad would happen.

"Well, are we ready to go?" Leto asked, nervousness filling her soft voice.

"Yeah." Perseus answered. Percy turned toward Apollo and gave him a small nod. Apollo in turn did the same.

Percy stood there for a second, while the other three waited for his lead, "Oh, now?"

Leto nodded, "Yes, aren't you going to lead the way?"

"No, actually I'm just going to do this." Was all Perseus said. He snapped his fingers and the forest spun and twirled as the four gods appeared at the entrance of the forest. Percy moved his hand forward and closed his ocean colored eyes that changed into different shades of the sea itself.

A small portal began emerging from the spot Perseus' hand pointed at. It began growing in size as different shades of purple and blue swirled in it. Soon a vortex whirled and shot small sparks all around the forest. The portal had been opened.

"What? How did it-this didn't happen when we entered." Apollo yelled above the noise that the vortex emanated.

Percy turned toward Apollo, "It's 'cause I opened it and the portal usually only opens around midnight, and I have to control it to open it or else it'll just open at night."

"Oh." Apollo couldn't think of anything else to say.

"After you." Percy ordered Leto and Apollo.

Leto was the first one out. Apollo took one last look of the forest and turned to Percy, nodding as if conforming something. Percy nodded sadly.

"Artie. I-I won't be able to... go with you." Percy turned to Artemis, his head hung in shame.

Artemis looked at Perseus, confused, "What, but you said you would. You said you'd go with me."

"I'm sorry." Were Perseus' last words as he pushed Artemis through the swirling vortex.

Percy stared at the portal as it began closing, it's shape and color fading.

"I'm sorry."

…

Artemis was dumped out of the portal. She turned in a hurry and was about to run to it before Apollo grabbed her by her arms.

"Let me go!" Artemis screamed as she struggled in Apollo's hold.

"I can't."

Artemis kept on fighting, but stopped short as she saw the portal closing making her struggling intensify. Golden tear's sprang out of her eyes as it turned smaller and smaller. She kicked and screamed, but Apollo's hold was too strong. Her struggling slackened as she saw the portal close completely.

Artemis let out a heart wrenching sob and grabbed onto the closes thing she had... Apollo. She hugged him tightly seeking the only comfort that Percy always gave her. She cried into Apollo's chest. Leto stood by silently watching the events occur. It hurt her seeing Artemis heartbroken. But it was for the best. Percy couldn't go for many reason that Apollo had told her about and it took all her willpower to not tell her daughter.

Leto neared her daughter and didn't know what to do besides hug her. She hugged her tightly and Artemis just let herself be hugged by this stranger.

"Why'd he leave me?" Artemis sobbed, "I love him."

Leto nor Apollo could do nothing but nod and try to comfort her. Nothing worked. Artemis was damaged, not physically, but emotionally. Her world shattered.

"_I love him..."_

Her dream was over and it was replaced by a living nightmare.

…

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><p><strong>Well, it seems that I had some time to Update and well, I did. I got so many reviews saying not to delete this story and I thought it through and came to a conclusion that I will keep this story going. I feel really touched that people actually like this story and want me to continue it. So, I'll continue it and Update when I can. Thanks to those who reviewed and put this story on your favorites list. Thanks for reading!<strong>

**Please Review**

**-PercyxArtemis**


	9. Impossible

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Mythology.**

**A/N: I don't usually put an authors note at the beginning of a story, but I feel that it's necessary, because I need to explain what's happening in this Chapter. It's in the middle of the Titan's Curse and also, Luke never told of his betrayal toward the gods nor Camp Half-Blood. I can't go too much into detail because I'd be spoiling the Chapter, so I'm sorry. Thalia is no longer a tree and Nico and Bianca are still together as brother and sister. She never entered the hunters, well, at least not yet. From there on it's practically the same. Sort of. **

**Again sorry for the Authors note and Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Impossible<strong>

_Several Millennium later..._

_Thud!_ A silver arrow pierced it's way through the cold foggy air and hit the middle of a target that lay several miles away. Another one came following it's same path and splitting the first one in half. The owner of these arrows was standing, frustration boiling in their silver eyes, as if that wasn't enough. The owner was once again reloading the bow when a happy and cheerful voice came out all of a sudden.

"Why, hello little sister! How was your morning today?" The cheerful voice spoke.

The 'little sister' growled under her breath and breathed an angry breath, "What do you want?"

"Now, is that the way to greet your amazing brother, Apollo, sister?" Apollo eagerly asked.

"Apollo why do you bother me? I was doing find until you came around." Apollo's sister responded.

Apollo scoffed, "Sure you were. That target over there says otherwise."

Apollo's sister said nothing as she began taking her stance to shoot the already loaded arrow, but Apollo stopped her by his screaming.

"Holy Zeus! Artemis I almost forgot, father told me that you need to go to that camp for Half-Bloods, what's it called again?" Apollo stood there for a second thinking, then snapped his fingers figuring it out, "Camp Half-Blood! Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what it's called. Oh, and also your hunters are waiting very impatiently for you at your own camp."

Artemis let the arrow be released as she heard this, "How do you know this?"

"Because I was just on Olympus and father told me to tell-"

"No! How do you know my hunters are waiting for me?" Artemis inquired.

"How do I know about that?" Apollo nervously, asked.

Artemis nodded her head and reloaded her bow once again.

Apollo looked at his sister and thought he could tell her this without the weapon in hand, after all she did get very upset when he flirted with her hunters, especially when she wasn't there.

Apollo laughed nervously, "Well, I was there to go look for you, but your hunters were only there so, I thought I'd stay there for a while and well, you know, spend some quality time with your very hot hunters, might I say."

"You what?"

"Yeah, um, I got some errands to run so..." Apollo sped off as an arrow almost hit him, but luckily it hit the ground where he once stood.

"Ha! You missed! I'm too fast for you sis, you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man-or is it the..." Apollo trailed off thinking, but quickly let it go and slapped his butt tauntingly, "Yeah, you can't touch this!"

Artemis, out of anger, shot four arrows straight toward Apollo's rear end. Apollo, before any of those arrows hit him, changed into his true form, leaving all the arrows to bite his dust.

"Better luck next time!" Apollo screamed, before fully disappearing.

Artemis stomped her foot, "Ugh, you're so annoying!"

Artemis breathed out all the anger and readied her stance once again. She really didn't want to go to that stupid camp for Half-bloods, but her father always wanted for every god to follow his every command. It was stupid. If her father wanted to see his children so badly then why didn't he go and check on them?

Her mind started floating somewhere else as she began shooting her arrows. It was the only thing she had that actually made her happy, and everyone knew it. Hunting was the only thing that blocked all the pain that she held deep inside of her. Buried deep inside for nobody to find nor touch. Artemis made herself the complete emotionless goddess anyone could possibly think of and nobody knew why. Only her mother and brother of course, but she rarely wanted to see or talk to them. After all they took her away from her real home. Her true happiness.

Angrily, she shot another arrow, sending it piercing it's target with precise aim. Nothing would change all the hurt she held, only him. It was too hard to even say his name. Even though it had been millennium later, it didn't mean that she had forgotten that day. But she not only blamed her mother and brother for taking her away from her home. She blamed him as well. He pushed her into the portal after all.

Another arrow was shot and punctured into the target. He had shown her everything, even what she was doing right now. He had shown her many things and hunting was one of them. She didn't know why she liked it so much, but it was the only thing that reminded her of the guy that had betrayed her.

The guy named Perseus...

"_Come on, Artie, shoot the target. It's easy, just pull the string to your bow and release the arrow. You'll be a natural." Percy said, smiling. _

_Artemis whined, "But what if I'm bad?"_

"_Trust me, you'll do great. Just shoot it and you'll be surprised on what you can do." Perseus got behind her and helped her ready the bow._

"_I'm not going be any good at this. Can we just do something else?" Artemis asked, sagging her arms._

"_Stop whining. This will be fun. Now, close your eyes and think of your target as the greatest enemy you have ever faced. It's taunting you, Artie." Percy let go of her as Artemis did as she was told to do, "What do you do? You fight your target. And how do you do it? By shooting the target. Don't let it get away."_

"_Breath in as you pull the string back and when you're ready to release it you release your breath as well." Perseus continued._

_Artemis pulled the string back, slowly, and quickly let it go, keeping her silver eyes closed. _

"_Nice! Open your eyes, Artie." Percy said, proudly._

_Artemis slowly opened her eyes to find that the arrow had landed right in the middle of the target, a bulls eye. Artemis was too speechless to even respond. _

"_See, Artie. You got a bulls eye on your first try! What did I tell you, you'd be a natural. And by the looks of it, you have it flowing in your veins as well!" Percy laughed. _

"_I guess..." Artemis trailed off._

_Perseus shook his head, "You need to be more sure of yourself, Artie. Not to the point of being overconfident, but at least to the point in believing in yourself." _

"_I know, it's just that... I feel that I'm not good enough." Artemis answered, sadly._

"_Not good enough? By the gods Artie, your better than good enough. I bet you're better than anybody in this whole wide world, including the world of the gods." Percy exclaimed._

_Artemis shook her head and set the bow down, "I think I'm going to the beach for a little while, you want to come?"_

"_Sure. I think we need a little break from all this training." Perseus sighed._

_Perseus and Artemis soon left the target range and headed toward the beach where the sun was barley going down. A beautiful horizon._

_The two gods sat down beside one another and stared out toward the sea. Artemis was the first to break the long silence that had come between them, "Percy? Do you ever think about who your parents or family might be?"_

"_No, they abandoned me. They don't deserve to be thought of." Perseus said bitterly, "What about you, do you ever think about your family?"_

_Artemis sighed nodding her head, "Yeah, I wonder why they even decided to leave me out here and die. But I'd like to meet them some day and ask them why they even left me in the first place, interrogate them."_

"_Are you happy here?" Percy asked turning toward her._

_Artemis was silent for a moment, but answered, "Yeah, I am happy, because I have you."_

"_M-me? Why would y-you be happy because y-you have m-me?" The golden cheeked god, stuttered._

"_Because you're my only friend and I know you'd never betray me." Answered Artemis, turning to Perseus to conform that she wasn't lying. It was better when someone had eye contact with the person that they were talking to, to see if they really spoke the truth. _

"_Yeah, I'll never betray you." Perseus smiled. _

Artemis had come back from the land of lost memories as she stopped there. The scene was replaying in her mind like a scratched disc. _'I'll never betray you.'_ Artemis repeated the words bitterly in her mind. He had betrayed her. She had trusted him and he had betrayed that trust she held for him. She promised herself to never trust anyone else ever again. But she fell for that trick once again with another guy. The guy she killed.

He had been a demigod, son of Poseidon, and he was called Orion. He had looked so much like Perseus that she almost thought it _had_ been Perseus himself. But she was completely and utterly wrong. Orion had been nothing like Perseus and she thought herself to be the most foolish goddess to have ever been born.

Orion was too proud and had raped an innocent maiden, while Perseus would have never done that. Perseus was kind and compassionate, while Orion was the complete opposite of that. She was happy that she had shot down that disgusting pig. Orion was a pig, including the whole male species.

Except for Perseus of course. He was different, but Artemis was still hurt on the fact that he had betrayed her therefore began including Perseus in that species of male pigs. For her all men were now the same. No man was different.

Artemis sighed and decided to leave the archery range before she got any angrier and blew up her training grounds.

Her first stop would have to be her own camp to get her hunters and then Camp Half-Blood. She hated bringing her hunters to that filthy place, but she really didn't have any other choice seeing as she would probably be there till nightfall. She turned into her true immortal form and flashed herself to her camp turning into leader mode.

"My Lady!" Was the first thing she heard when she appeared at her camp.

Artemis nodded toward the person who had said that, "Hello Zoë, how are the hunters?"

"Doing well My Lady, Thou have been a great teacher." Zoë spoke in an Old English accent.

"Good, we'll have to head to Camp Half-Blood, my father wants me over there and well, I thought that we'd all go. Gather up the hunters."

Zoë frowned, but did as she was told.

Zoë was Artemis' faithful and loyal lieutenant and was the only person she actually trusted.

Artemis sighed and watched as her loyal lieutenant gathered up all the hunters and readied them for their trip. By the look of her hunters' faces, they didn't seem happy that they were going to the camp that held the children of the gods. Well, the children weren't fully a god, they were demigods and they were the result of the affairs the gods had with the mortals that roamed the earth.

"Mistakes." Artemis whispered allowed. Some of her hunters were many of them, but she didn't count them as being a mistake only the one's that were at Camp Half-Blood, especially the boys.

"We're ready My Lady." Zoë saluted to Artemis.

They all began running to Camp Half-Blood and as they were almost there, Zoë left the pack and ran next to Artemis.

"Thou art mad My Lady?"

Artemis shook her head, but anybody could sense the anger that emanated from her body in torrents. Something was bothering her and Zoë could tell.

"No, Zoë, I'm fine. We're almost there, watch out for those demigods, especially those boys." Artemis said, venom dripping from her voice.

Zoë had never seen her mistress that angry and it worried her. Something about the way she was acting was rather strange.

"Stupid memories." Zoë heard Artemis mumble.

"We're here!" Artemis announced knocking Zoë out of her thoughts.

Artemis walked ahead of all of them and was met up by Chiron, "Artemis what a surprise of having you here. Is there something wrong?"

"No, Chiron, my father ordered me to come here. For what? I don't know. My brother, Apollo, said nothing to me when he told me of the news. Now, what's new?" Artemis said, not looking at the old centaur.

"Well, not much, but we do have a new camper. I don't know much about the child, only that his mother is a clear sighted mortal and he smells of the sea. I have my suspicions that this child is a son of Poseidon." Chiron said, worriedly.

Artemis frowned, "A boy is he? A child of Poseidon has not been seen in ages. Where is this... child."

"Right around-" Chiron got cut off as a fourteen year old boy slammed into the twelve year old goddess, knocking Artemis down, while the boy landed on top of her. Two other boys came running in only to stop short and see the wreckage that had happened.

"Uh-Oh." Both boys, that looked to be twins, said at once. They began walking away slowly only to be stopped by the old centaur.

"And where do you think you're both going?"

While the old centaur was lecturing the two boys the one that landed on Artemis was getting up in a haste, "I'm so very sorry." The boy said. He held out a hand, but Artemis stood on her own, brushing herself down.

"You should be, boy!" Phoebe, a hunter of Artemis, shouted.

The boy backed up in fear, "What? I don't understand... I'm really sorry..."

Artemis was steaming, "None of your kind is ever sorry! You say it, but you don't mean it!"

"I-I don't understand. I said I was sorry... Why are all of you so angry at me, I didn't do anything." The boy stuttered. He stood there not knowing what to do. Why were these girls yelling at him? He didn't mean to knock the girl down.

Chiron came into the argument and pulled the boy behind him as if protecting him, "He didn't mean it Lady Artemis. He's new around here, he's the boy I was talking about."

The boy just stared in fear at Artemis, his ocean colored eyes changing colors every few seconds. He had the centaur by one of his horse legs and made it hard for the centaur to stand straight.

"I'm sorry." The boy said in a low voice.

Artemis flinched. Those two words got to her. The boy's voice sounded oddly familiar, but she couldn't really put her finger on who or what she had heard that voice from. And those eyes also seemed to get to her, almost as if they were staring deep into her. Like they were trying to get the pain to come out, but Artemis resisted.

Angrily, Artemis sighed and turned to Chiron, unlocking her eyes with the young boy, "Can I have a word with him"

"Uh, alone?" Chiron didn't seem to like that idea so much.

"Yes, don't worry, Chiron. I won't hurt him, after all he did apologize..." Artemis smiled, but inside she was laughing. This would be fun.

Still, Chiron didn't like the idea nor did the boy, "Okay. Percy, she'll just speak to you, that's all, okay?"

Artemis froze, "His name is Percy?"

"Well, it's Perseus, but he like's to be called Percy." Chiron pushed Percy toward Artemis and hulled the other two boys with him, "If you need anything Percy, just come and find me, you know where." Chiron said that as if saying, 'If she attacks you run for help.'

"Hunters, follow Chiron and head to my cabin." Artemis had a far away look in her eyes. Her hunters followed Chiron sadly, knowing something good was going to happen, but they wouldn't be able to see the show.

Once Chiron and her hunters were a well distance away she decided to speak, "Look, I don't know who you are, but you're hiding something in that little disgusting head of yours and I'm going to find out what that 'something' is, understand?"

Percy nodded weakly too scared to even speak. Artemis was satisfied with the reaction the boy gave her and took one last look at him before she left leaving the bemused boy to process his thoughts.

"Apollo was right. You really have changed." Percy hanged his head in shame. It was all his fault, he had made her the cruel goddess she was now.

The boy began to glow a blue purplish light as he grew in size, his features turning older and less childish. In the place of where the young fourteen year old once stood, was a young handsome man around his early twenties. On his wrists he wore silver adamantine cuffs and on his head he wore a sort of silver adamantine crown. He looked like a prince and truly he was a prince. He was Perseus the first son of Aphrodite and Poseidon. The lost god.

He had found out about his family when he had bumped into Apollo. The reason for his being here was because of the people that were chasing him around. Those people wanted answers and they wanted his help, but of course he said no and they began attacking him and attacking his home. The only thing he could do was leave his home and look for a place to hide. He had found a mortal woman by the name of Sally Jackson and used his powers to make her as his mother and used a lot of his power to control Poseidon into thinking he was his demigod son. He made himself look like a fourteen year old and came to this camp in search for a home.

That was his story and nobody could find out about it. Apollo was the only one to know of his presence in the mortal world and godly world, and he wanted to keep it that way. If anybody knew of his existence he would be chased even more.

What truly saddened him was the fact that he had found out who his real family was. He wanted to keep it a mystery. And now he hated his family more than anything he had ever hated in his whole immortal life.

And what mostly sadden him was that Artemis had turned into a cold heartless bitch. It took a tole on young Perseus as he realized that, that was reality and nobody could change it. He made her into what she was today. Karma could be such a bitch sometimes. He was paying for his disloyalty against her and hurt him. He created a monster.

Percy had heard of the crimes she had committed and it truly hit him deep inside. It hit him like an atomic bomb hitting the face of planet earth. She had killed many men and also women, which some may have deserved it, but still a crime was a crime. He felt nothing but pity and disgust against her. He had lost the love he once held for the beautiful goddess. That was what he kept telling himself, but he still felt at least a small spark of love. A little hope for her to come to her senses and see that the world was actually better off without him in the picture. He needed to fix her, but he didn't know how.

Percy smiled sadly toward the direction the moon goddess had left, "I truly feel sorry for you Artemis and I know that I hurt you, but it doesn't mean you have to act this way nor does it mean that I have to keep feeling this love towards you. After all these millennium I haven't learned to let go."

Perseus heaved a sigh and walked back to camp, his steps slow and sluggish. When he got there he quickly changed back into his disguise and sat down as Chiron began his speech of the day.

"Heroes! There shall be a capture the flag game tonight, prepare yourselves. Also, the hunters will be playing against Camp Half-Blood. May the best team win." Chiron said rather glumly. The hunters had won for practically the billionth time and camp had not even won one game. It was shameful for Chiron that his heroes were not good enough to even beat a single hunter.

Perseus was listening to this and thought that this game could be interesting. He had never played this mysterious game and he was curious to find out what new strategies he could learn from this experience. He turned toward the Artemis table and found her smirking. It was obvious that her hunters always won. Maybe he could help the campers win.

Artemis suddenly stood up from her table and clapped her hands to get everyone's attention, "I will be participating in this capture the flag game as well, demigods. So, prepare yourselves well."

Immediately, the campers groaned. They didn't have a chance against the hunters and now they're leader would be playing the game. They were helpless.

Percy smiled and began planning out a strategy to win the game against these hunters. It was barely lunch time, so he had plenty of time to think up of something before tonight's games. This would be rather interesting indeed. An evil grin began forming on Perseus' face. The hunters wouldn't know what hit them.

_Capture the flag..._

The campers had not thought of a plan yet and it was almost time for the campers and the hunters to face each other. Mostly people were listening to Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth. All their plans seemed magnificent only that those plans wouldn't work with the hunters, especially on Artemis. Perseus knew this and he needed to get to these people to listen to him, but Luke wouldn't let him speak. His exact words were, "Sorry, kid, but you're new here and we need experienced campers not someone who's being protected by the centaur."

That really got to Perseus and he wanted to prove to this little spawn of Hermes that he could, in fact, win this game better than any camper that roamed this camp.

Percy decided to actually speak and try to communicate with these demigods, "Look, I know I'm new and all, but please, give me a chance. I'll surely lead us to victory if you all just listen to me. These hunters have Artemis' blessing, but that doesn't mean that they're any match for us, we're children of more powerful gods. Artemis may be the goddess of hunting, but we have some children of Athena here that can trick Artemis and her hunters. I have a plan and it may not be a good one, but it's better than having no plan."

A camper stepped forward, "How can we trust you if you don't even know how to play the game?"

"I'm a fast learner. I'll get the hang of it soon. I also know the hunters' leader and there has to be a weak point to her." Percy responded, excitement filling his voice.

Everyone started murmuring around actually thinking on trusting him, but Luke came up and pushed Percy aside, "People, people, calm down! You all don't believe we can trust a newbie in this dangerous game, do you?"

Percy glared at Luke, but said nothing. He hadn't liked Luke from the first day he had met him. Luke had tried to be friends with Percy, but of course Perseus didn't want anything to do with Luke. Percy sensed something bad about the child of Hermes and when he sensed something like that, he was usually right.

"Luke, just let the boy talk. Even though he's new, it doesn't mean he can't participate in capture the flag. We could use some new minds around here." Thalia, daughter of Zeus, spoke.

"Wow. You too?" Luke threw his hands up in the air, exasperated, "This kid doesn't have any experience in this matter! If we take our chances, we'll be losing to these hunters again and I just can't stand losing to those wanna be heroes!"

Annabeth, a daughter of Athena, decided to speak, "Luke, cut him some slack, he just want's to help... We should hear him out, maybe he has some information that could be of good use to us. He did say he knew Artemis."

More chatter began to rise at the fact of someone, especially a boy, knowing the cold leader of the hunters.

Luke began to laugh, "You really think this... kid, can know a goddess like Artemis? She hates every male in this planet, including her own brother, Apollo! What makes you think this unclaimed demigod knows a goddess like her?"

"Because I do. And if you don't want my help, then fine! I'll get the flag across the border before any of you even see where it is. I swear on the Styx!" Perseus growled.

Thunder rumbled in the distance as the campers all gasped at once. Nobody ever swore on something so unimportant as to risk swearing on the Styx.

"Watch your words, kid. What you just did is sacred and is not to be messed with. If you lose this, then may the gods be with you, because Styx does not take these promises like any other promise. You may have just doomed your soul..." Thalia said seriously, trailing off at the end.

Percy was tired of all of these campers not believing in him. He could get the flag and besides, he knew the basics to this game. Get the flag where it's hidden, protect your own flag from your team, and get the other teams flag across the border before they do. It was simple.

"I'll keep this promise and you'll all be wishing that you actually listened to me before listening to your beloved leader over here." Percy said, pointing at Luke. Perseus stomped out of the clearing they were in and had his mind set on finding that flag.

"Wait, Perce!" The two twins from before came running up to him.

Percy turned in a hurry, "What?"

"We want to help you." One of the twins spoke, while the other one nodded in agreement.

"Why do you want to help me? Aren't you going to help your brother?" Percy asked, referring to Luke.

Both twins shook there heads and one of them decided to speak for the other, "He's not our brother. Maybe step-brother, but not brother. And we want to help you because you'll need our expertise in this game. We're children of Hermes after all, which means we're children of the god of thieves, transportation, messaging, etc... And besides, you made that dangerous oath to Styx. You'll need all the help you can get."

The other twin nodded his head vigorously.

"Okay. I'll accept your help." Percy accepted. He needed someone to watch out for him even though he could do that himself, but still it would be helpful.

The three boys ran into the woods ready for the game to start. Percy didn't have a plan, but he decided he would wing it. He had been through the forest long enough to know where these hunters would put traps to capture prisoners and also, where the hunters would be hiding. This forest was very different from his home, but he could try to control it, right?

Suddenly, a horn was blown across the clearing, frighting the nervous boy, "What was that?"

"That was the horn for the game to begin. We need to hurry if you want to keep that promise of yours." Once again one of the twins spoke for the other. The other one just kept nodding.

"Well, what do you Hermes children do at a time like this?" Percy asked.

The one who had been speaking the whole time, groaned, "Come on, man! We're not called Hermes children, we already told you our names. I'm Conner and that's Travis." Said the kid named Conner as he pointed to his twin brother that was known as Travis.

"Well, it's kind of hard to see which one is which, so..." Percy trailed off.

Conner once again groaned, "That's the meaning of twins, we're identical twins... Do you want us to wear name tags or something?"

"Yeah, that would be helpful."

Travis smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand, "That was meant to be taken sarcastically, are you that dense?"

Percy scoffed, "I know that. I was just playing around, but seriously, name tags would be helpful."

"Conner, see what you did, you gave him an idea... Now we'll definitely have to wear them now..." Travis mumbled the second part to his brother, Conner, but Percy heard the last part and smiled. It was fun teasing the two twins. They always made a big deal out of everything.

The three boys soon neared the middle to where the two teams cut off. Everyone had departed already and all that laid in the abandoned clearing was leftovers of arrows, spears, swords, etc. It was as if a wild heard of buffalo came crashing into the forest with weapons. Percy was reminded of the time he had gotten chased by the cattle in the forest and immediately shuddered. _'Evil cows...'_

"So... What's the plan?" Asked the curious son of Hermes better known as Conner.

"The plan is to stay here while I go get the flag. Understand?" Percy said without even looking at him.

Travis grumbled, "So, were just going stand here and stall, while you actually get to be in all of the action? So unfair."

"Don't worry you'll both take part in this plan. Just wait for my signal, okay?"

"Yeah, Travis, we're going to be stalling in this game once again." A deflated Conner spoke.

Percy shook his head amused by the twins reactions, "Seriously, guys, don't worry. You'll have a part in this game, just stand still and don't move from these spots until I give out the signal, got that?"

Both twins nodded glumly sitting behind a rock that Percy had designated them to.

"I'll be back!"

"Hey, Conner, what was the signal that Percy gave us, again?" Travis asked, curiously.

Conner stared dumbfounded at Travis, "I don't know... Did he even give us one?"

"I don't think he did." Travis shook his head, bemused.

"How will we know of the signal then?" Conner asked, equally bemused.

Travis shrugged, "I don't know."

_Meanwhile..._

Percy was running. Where? He didn't know. He had to find that flag before the others did, he had to prove them all wrong. Also, he had sworn on the Styx, so if he didn't have that flag soon... Well, he'd have to face major consequences.

He decided to use his powers, just a little of them. I wouldn't hurt anyone, but it could take a great tole off of him. If he used too much he would be weakened and also, he might even be found and chased by the people that ran him out of his home.

He couldn't use too much of his powers, because he no longer had that access to his powers. He was a god, yes, but he had a limit. That limit was created because he was ripped away from his mother at an early age. You could say that his birth process was incomplete. The forest was the only thing that held him together and now, he didn't even have that anymore. The only way to complete that process was for him to go back to his mother and complete it, but he would never go to her for help. Never.

Perseus had never met his parents and he planned on keeping it that way. It made no sense to go and meet the family that had abandoned him to die and survive alone.

An arrow whizzed passed his ear and Percy heard a groan as the thing that was shot by the arrow, collapsed. Perseus turned and saw that a young ten year old boy laid there clutching his leg in pain as an arrow was stuck to it. Percy quickly ran to the boy.

"Hey, kid, you okay?" Perseus asked, worriedly. The boy nodded his head no but said nothing else.

Percy looked at the wound and saw that it wasn't too severe, but severe enough. He threw all caution out the window as he pulled out the offending arrow out of the boy's calf making the boy scream in pain.

"Shh, don't scream too loud, they might find us." Percy said as softly as possible. The small boy was crying and all he could do was nod his head shakily.

Percy winced at his own words. They were the words he had said to Artemis the night he had found her, well sort of the same. They were close.

Once the boy had calmed down a bit, Percy made a piece of ambrosia appear out of thin air, without the boy looking of course.

"Here, this will make you feel better." Percy said, handing the small boy an ambrosia square.

The boy immediately perked up as he chomped the sweet tasting food of the gods. The only thing was the color of the boy's face had not changed. The boy was still pale._ 'Maybe that's his own complexion.'_ Thought Perseus.

"What's your name?" Percy questioned the sniffling boy.

The boy looked up frightened to hear Perseus' strong voice, "Uh, I-It's Nico."

"And who's your godly parent?"

"Hades." Answered the stuttering boy.

_'Ah, that explains the pale skin.'_ Percy thought the boy seemed rather friendly to him as they spoke. Hades was gloomy and not friendly at times, but Percy saw that Nico didn't have any of those traits. The boy was hyper and rambunctious. A total opposite of his father.

"Nico, can I have you wait here while I get the flag. You see-"

Nico cut him off, "I know the promise that you made the Styx. You should get going if you want to keep it and not get punished by the river. I hear it turns ugly when you don't keep your promises. I was hoping that it meant the opposite of pretty, but that couldn't be it."

Percy smiled and patted Nico on the head, "Thanks. Why don't you go to Chiron and call it a quits, okay?"

Nico nodded sadly, but stood up ready to go, "Thanks for everything. I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah."

The son of Hades waved goodbye and left Percy alone once again.

Perseus didn't wait there to be caught by the hunter that had shot the son of Hades down. He began running, but he began using a little more power to accelerate his speed. He needed to find that flag. He took in a breath as he closed his eyes. He imagined the whole perimeter of the forest being blanked out and could only see the physical things like the demigods and the three immortals with the hunters included of course. Artemis, Chiron, and Dionysus were targeted as the immortal bunch. Artemis was far away from the flag fighting off some boys, while the hunters were doing practically the same thing.

It clicked in Perseus' mind as he targeted the flag. Nobody was guarding it. He had a free pass to grab the flag. He used more of his powers to accelerate his speed even more. He knew he was going to exhaust himself, but it would be worth it. Just as long as he had the strength to walk back to the Hermes cabin and lay down for a bit.

He arrived where he had sensed the flag but found nothing but a lake, that was until he spotted it hidden high in the trees. Sneaky little hunters.

Percy proceeded and climbed the tall Pine tree, careful not to break one of the Nymph's flimsy branches. And just as he was about to get it there was a scream of a hunter calling for back up. Just his luck.

"There he is and he has our flag. Get him girls!" The hunter that had found him, ordered.

Percy sighed. He had to get out of there before any of the girls got to him or when their leader found out about him having their flag.

He jumped out of the tree and ran, ran faster then the girls could handle. Of course he had used some power exhausting him even more, but like he had said, it would be worth it, right?

Another horn was sounded, but completely different then the one he had heard that began the game. It was a hunting horn that had rang through his ears._ 'If my suspicions are correct I think they just called for their leader...'_

There was an explosion and Percy made the mistake of looking toward the direction of that explosion. It was their leader and she was pissed...

Percy groaned, "Ugh, I'm in deep shit..."

The thought left his mind as he saw the border to his team. He could see Conner and Travis rooting him on to run faster._ 'But if I do, I'll exhaust myself.'_

A slight tapping could be heard from behind him as someone ran close to his heels. He didn't even want to turn and look who it was. He already knew by the angry breaths the person was breathing that it had to be her. Yep, it was Artemis and boy was she armed.

"Come on, Percy! Run faster!" Conner and Travis screamed at the top of their lungs.

Campers were coming out of the trees and bushes, wide eyed at the image they saw in front of them. Percy Jackson was going to win this.

"Percy, Percy, Percy!" They all screamed.

_'Only a few more feet away.'_ Percy chanted in his mind.

He was knocked down all of a sudden as the angry goddess toppled onto him. She quickly turned him around, the flag still in his hand.

"Oh, no you don't." Artemis panted. She was straddling his legs as she had turned him around. The scene was quiet disturbing for all of the hunters, but for all the boys on the other team, they were whistling.

"Yeah, go Percy! He got a goddess to get on top of him and it had to be the man hating one. He's a lucky little shit." A camper screamed. It was a boy from the Apollo cabin. Of course.

Artemis growled hearing the comment very disturbing and took it out on poor Percy. She raised her fist and as her fist connected with his nose it burst into pain, but not only that, golden blood was gushing out. Artemis' eyes widened with realization at the color of the blood.

"Impossible." She breathed.

While Artemis was too stunned to comprehend the different color scheme of blood, he pushed her off him and ran once again, covering his nose to at least cover some of the exposed blood.

The hunters seeing that Artemis was not moving, decided to chase the boy down themselves.

Percy had, had enough, "Conner, Travis, now!"

"What? What do you mean by 'now'? What do we do?" Conner asked, bemused.

"Fight!"

Conner and Travis looked at one another and shrugged, it was better than doing nothing.

They yelled out a battle cry and ran straight toward the hunters with their swords held up high, "For Hermes!"

Percy felt that the world was beginning to do three sixties and one eighties, but he couldn't stop, no, not now when he was so close to the finish line. His vision was blurring incredibly, but he needed to finish. _'I need to complete this. I can't fail.'_

His senses were beginning to tingle as he felt the footsteps on the ground again. It was her, but with new found determination. Her anger had dissipated for only worry to take it's place.

Only a few more inches.

He was limping to the border with no energy left in him to even make a small jog.

"Come on, Perseus!" The campers screamed.

"Hand me the flag!" Another voice screeched. It was an Ares camper.

"Hurry, Perce, you can do this!" Thalia cheered.

The footsteps were getting even closer and Perseus' conscience was struggling to keep him awake. _'Come on, Perseus, you're not going to fail on this too, are you?'_ It taunted Perseus.

"I can't." He whispered, seeing the border miles and miles away.

_'But you wouldn't fail on Artie if she was in trouble, would you?'_ It questioned.

"Artie..." With new found strength, Perseus' vision cleared a bit and saw that it was only a few more feet away. Three yards to be exact. Inches were an understatement then.

"I can do this."

_'You can do this.'_ It cheered.

"But it's so far away..." Percy coughed.

_'No it's not. It's right in front of you.'_ It answered,_ 'Only a few more yards in front of you and you win.'_

"So many, but I have to win."

In the corner of Perseus' eye he could make out Artemis closing in on him. Percy breathed and quickly began jogging. He had to win.

Artemis had been so close to capturing him, but before she could even tackle him down Percy had passed through the borders and the cheering of the campers amplified.

"I knew he had it in him!" Conner and Travis screamed from the hold the hunters had on them. All the hunters groaned about the loss that they had just took, the first loss they had gotten. Ever.

Artemis on the other hand, stared at her knuckles as ichor dripped from them. It was the boy's blood. Warm and golden._ 'But it's impossible, he can't be a god.'_

"Hey, where did he go?" A young pale boy asked. Artemis in question looked, but saw the spot where the young boy stood with the silver flag, gone.

_'Where **did** he go?'_ She asked herself.

The earth shook as if responding to the question, and there was an odd smell of sulfur. Artemis looked around to see the demigods holding up their weapons and facing an army of monsters.

"Where is he?" Screeched a Cyclopes.

Chiron came up in front of all the demigods, while he wielded a bow and arrow in hand, "Leave."

All the monsters began laughing as if that were funny to them, but quickly recomposed themselves and readied their weapons, "We'll ask you one more time, centaur. Where is he?"

Out of the corner of Artemis' eye she saw the young boy she had punched, running off into the woods. She decided to follow this mysterious boy.

Percy was heavily breathing and golden sweat was dripping from his forehead. He had used too much power in the game and they had found him. He had also weakened himself too much. Soon he would collapse, but he needed to get away before they actually found him completely.

Perseus was just too tired to keep moving therefore collapsed before he had fully found a spot to hid. He was about to move, but a sword was pointed at his neck. Slowly, he lifted his head to see the offender.

"You're not going anywhere." The offender spoke.

"Luke." Percy growled.

Luke smirked, "Surprised?"

"Why, Luke?" Percy swallowed as the sword at his neck was dug into his skin. Golden blood dripped out.

"As I suspected, you're the one The General seeks. I should have known." Luke gritted his teeth, "I can't believe you were here the whole time and I didn't even notice. Oh, well, The General will be mighty pleased to have found you at last."

Artemis, who had followed Perseus, gasped. He couldn't be. He was a god. And not only that, The General was out loose once again. She had to tell the others. But she had to get the godling out of the situation he was in. The only question was, how would she get him out and who was this mysterious god.

Luke evilly smirked toward Artemis' direction, "But first I think I'll get your girlfriend that's hiding in the bushes over there." Luke ordered two Sirens to go and get Artemis out of her hiding place. Artemis, too surprised to even move, did not fight the sirens as they grabbed her by her arms.

"Now, Perseus, son of Aphrodite and Poseidon, prepare to meet your greatest nightmare." Luke announced. Luke circled Artemis, who was already tied up in celestial bronze chains, and grabbed her by her auburn hair. "I must say, you have great taste in woman Perseus. I might even ask The General to give me this beautiful maiden as a reward for capturing you."

Artemis growled, but said nothing. Percy on the other hand...

"You stupid bastard! Don't you dare touch her with your filthy, disgusting hands!" With the insult said, Perseus lunged toward Luke, but was caught mid air by the two sirens, stopping him from doing any harm to the son of Hermes.

Artemis was surprised by the boy's protection against her, but she was also furious. She could protect herself perfectly fine.

"How dare you touch me demigod, when I get out of here, I'll destroy you and all your little pets. Now unhand me, stupid boy!" Artemis, angrily commanded.

Luke shook his head, "I'm afraid I can't do that, beautiful. The General wants every little thing out of his way to reach his ultimate goal at conquering Olympus. And if I let you go then this little twerp will never listen nor cooperate with us. He does have some mighty power in him, don't you Perseus?"

Percy growled as his eyes burned with hot fury. His eyes looked like a liquid lava lamp ready to erupt.

"I'll take that as a yes." Answered Luke smugly.

Artemis was confused. What kind of power did this boy have? Was that the person the monsters were looking for back there? No, it couldn't possibly be him... could it?

"He doesn't seem powerful to me..." Artemis trailed off.

Luke twirled a strand of her hair, but quickly stepped away as Artemis bit at him, "Feisty. I like that in a girl. Anyway, he has imaginable powers not even your father, Zeus, has. He's the first child of Aphrodite and Poseidon after all."

Artemis was now stumped. Poseidon didn't have a child with Aphrodite, and Aphrodite hated Poseidon. They never mixed well. It was impossible that they had ever had a child together. Besides, Poseidon's first child had been Triton, and Aphrodite's first child had been Eros. It was impossible.

She had to make time to think up a plan, she decided to stall for a bit, but also have her questions answered, "That's impossible. They never had a child together and I've never known of this god before." Artemis nodded toward Perseus.

"Oh, but you have met him. The General told me all about your meeting with Perseus. He was your best friend and loved one after all..."

Artemis froze right there.

"Impossible."

...

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><p><strong>Well, guys you're in luck, because I was sick and I still am, so that gave me a chance to stay home and right the Ninth Chapter! Okay, you may not be so excited, but I am 'cause I got to miss school, work, and my other activities just because I was sick and that gave me the chance to write it. Anyway, thanks for all you're amazing reviews and for adding this story to your favorites list. Thanks for reading! Remember more reviews means inspiration and that inspiration means that I feel like writing more and more Updates. <strong>

** Please Review!**

**-PercyxArtemis**


	10. Smile

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Mythology.**

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><p><strong>Smile<strong>

Artemis stood there very silent, mulling over the words that the son of Hermes had spoken. Everything began making sense as her mind worked hard to figure out all the reason to believe the traitor that held the knife up toward the neck of the innocent boy, but something was controlling her not to. It was a force that told her not to believe anything he had said. The child could not be a god, but the golden blood that stained her knuckles said otherwise.

The blood that dripped from the boys neck was pooling on the forest floor. It looked like he was about to faint. Something was very wrong with him. Something was weakening him immensely. The blood flashed and turned crimson red for a second, but as quickly as the flash came it faded and the blood turned into its natural color. Golden.

Artemis stared at Perseus trying to look in the eyes of her enemy, but he held his head down. Sweat drenched him in a blanket atop of his forehead. It looked like he was trying to hold onto reality itself as he trembled. It was like he was a ghost, a ghost about to fade.

Perseus rose his head and locked eyes with Luke, "Are you going to stand there or are you going to fight?"

"I think I already outmatched you my dear friend. A sword is at your neck and what do you have against me? Nothing! You are weaponless." Luke cackled. It was as if he was a crazy scientist that had discovered a new way for world domination.

As fast as light itself, Percy moved out of the position he was in, and stood behind the demigod; a sword at the neck of his own enemy.

"You were saying?" Percy whispered in the traitor's ear.

The sword that rested at Luke's neck shined in the light of the afternoon sun. The sword's blade looked sharp enough to cut through metal and it gleamed like a crystal itself. It's beauty was deadly; like a rose with thorns.

Perseus' eyes flashed seeing Artemis tied up in chains. Quickly, and Swiftly, he took the sword from Luke's neck and slashed at his legs. Crimson blood immediately gushed out in torrents.

"Gah, I'll get you for that you stupid god!" Luke screamed. Luke knelt, the pain in his legs too much to handle. His legs felt like they were being cooked and flamed.

Percy ran to Artemis' side and untied the chains that bound the bemused goddess. He grabbed her hand and led her through the horrid of monsters that attacked the defenseless camp.

Artemis didn't know what was going on. Who was this person that held her hand? His touch felt so similar to someone she knew a long time ago. Was Luke right all along? Was this the person that had saved and destroyed her life?

Artemis froze in place, "Who are you?"

"What? You're asking me this now when we're being chased by millions of monsters?" Percy asked trying to pull her arm, but to no avail seeing as she was stubbornly standing there not wanting to move.

"I asked you a question, who are you?" Artemis asked coldly. Rain began sprinkling from the gray sky. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. The gods had finally found out that the camp was being attacked. Great timing.

Percy looked toward the muddy ground and sighed, "You know exactly who I am, Artie..."

Artemis gasped, golden tears threatening to overflow in her silver, lively eyes, "What did you just call me?"

Perseus didn't answer as he used all his remaining strength to flash them out of the battle that occurred in the home of the children of the gods.

Both gods appeared in the ally of New York city. Water dropped from the brewing sky's as it claimed the night. The sun no longer out as the moon was covered by the gray clouds and the streaked purple and blue sky.

Percy collapsed in the hands of the moon goddess. His strength had been completely sucked out of him by the power and force he had used in the forest. The breathing of the godling was quick and short.

Artemis shook him as his eyes began closing, "Don't. What's wrong?"

Once again, Perseus did not answer as the world began fading from his eyes. The only thing he could see were the eyes of his love. Golden tears dripped on him as he fully began losing the grip of the world itself. Sleep was welcoming him in it's warm blanket.

"What's happened to you, Percy?"

…

Aphrodite lay in her bed as she played with a strand of her own hair. Ares laid beside her, asleep. The only thing that covered the two gods were the blankets that laid atop of their bodies.

Aphrodite sighed, "Why is this not good enough anymore?"

The goddess couldn't comprehend on why the feeling of being beside her lover was not as refreshing as she thought of it to be a few years ago. The excitement of being with Ares was gone. It bored her and she didn't know why.

The god of war shuffled in his sleep and threw an arm over Aphrodite's covered form. She pushed it aside. Nothing filled her anymore.

She wondered why the world needed her. Love was a mere concept for her even though she was the goddess of love. All love in her world was gone. The hopes of ever finding it diminished. Poseidon had reassured her of that.

"Idiot god of the sea." She mumbled, "Only you could be stupid enough to have another child with a mortal. Amphitrite must be raging by your affair with that innocent mortal."

She laughed manically. Aphrodite had truly gone insane after looking for her lost son for many years with no such luck. She had given up and could have probably taken on the role of the goddess of insanity. But of course that was Dionysus' job so it had already been taken. The other goddesses tried to stay far away from the crazy goddess of love, but she was always in their heads. Always.

Except for only one goddess, but she didn't know how that goddess had not broken yet.

"Artemis." Aphrodite angrily spoke, venom dripping from her beautiful voice.

Artemis had never waned in the presence of the love goddess. Aphrodite's most biggest desire was to finish that insolent brat once and for all and have her bow down before her. Aphrodite had not given up on having the moon goddess to fall in the trap better known as love.

Suddenly, Aphrodite's form flickered and she clutched her head in agonizing pain. Her heart ached and her eyes glowed with a violet worried light. She had been having these sudden flickers for many days now and the pain was growing immensely. It felt like her very form was being split in half. She didn't know why this was happening or why she even felt pain. It was new to her.

The pain began to subside and her eyes went back to her normal kaleidoscope eyes. Every time that happened she felt weak and tired.

She gasped for air, "What's happening to me?"

Quickly, she got out of the covers and ran to the bathroom. A gigantic mirror occupied a good portion of the bathroom wall. The bathroom itself was enormous and it held everything the goddess of beauty needed to look like her beautiful self.

Aphrodite leaned across the sink and looked at her features. Her usually tan skin was a deathly pale and her eyes looked lifeless. Something was happening to her and she didn't know what. Her hands trembled as she shook her head in worry. She wasn't fading, was she? _'How stupid are you to think that. Of course you're not fading, it's probably something else. Maybe you should ask Athena...'_

"Ugh, ask that incorrigible wisdom goddess for help? No way." Aphrodite growled. Athena always thought herself to be better then Aphrodite and it irritated her.

She gripped her head with one of her trembling hands and breathed in a shaky breath, "I need to find out what this is. I can't live like this."

"Aphrodite!" Called a cranky voice from her bed. It was Ares.

"What!"

Ares grumbled and walked toward the bathroom where Aphrodite stared across the crystalline mirror. He took a good long look at his beautiful lover and walked behind her, encircling her waist with his tough hands.

"You look beautiful as always, what's wrong?" Ares asked, worriedly. A very rare thing for the war god to show was worry. But he was talking to Aphrodite, so he had to be on his best behavior.

Aphrodite sighed, "Nothing. Nothing's wrong with me."

He began kissing her neck, but she turned and looked him straight in the eye. Ares froze seeing her eyes. Her eyes were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen but he knew that with one glare that she gave him it was like a shot of venom. He tried to never get her upset for he would pay for it later.

"Are you upset?" He asked nervously.

She scoffed, "No. I said it was nothing, okay. Just leave me alone for a second."

Ares nodded and left her to process her thoughts. When she was in a bad mood it was hard to enjoy doing something with her.

Aphrodite closed the door to the bathroom and sighed deeply. Her head was still pounding and her heart was aching terribly. This couldn't be happening to her. She wasn't supposed to feel pain, she was immortal after all. These were mortal things and it just wasn't like her to feel physical pain.

She put her head in her hands, "What in Zeus' name is wrong with me!"

There was a knocking on the door making her jump. She stormed to it and opened it almost ripping it off it's hinges, "What do you want Ares I thought- Oh Eros it's you, what do you want?"

"You seem to be in a 'happy' mood today," Eros rolled his eyes, "Well, I was just strolling around Olympus and happened to cross Poseidon-"

"What did I tell you about invoking that name around my presence, Eros?" Aphrodite growled.

"Oh, come on mother! What's so wrong about saying his name, hmm?" Eros said, throwing his hands up in the air.

"That's none of your damn business, Eros. Now, what did that man tell you?" Aphrodite waved her hand in a hurry up gesture.

Eros once again rolled his eyes, "As I was saying, I happened to cross the sea god and you wouldn't guess what he told me."

"What did he tell you?" Aphrodite made a nail filer appear and began to file her nails to pass the time.

"He was whining about that new child of his, what's his name? Oh, yeah, Perseus." Aphrodite flinched at the name, but Eros didn't seem to notice, "Well, he was whining about the kid and then he said, 'Why must every child I have seem like my first child?', I of course heard in on this and hurriedly came here to tell you."

Aphrodite waved her hand in a go on gesture, "What else or is that all?"

"That's all."

"Then why are you wasting my time away. His children seem to be like Triton all the time, why is this something new to me?" Aphrodite said this, while sitting on the bathroom counter.

"Mother, you don't get the point do you? He wasn't talking about 'Triton' he was talking about another kid and he almost said his name, but bit his tongue probably not taking a risk at saying the kid's name on Olympus." As Eros said this Aphrodite began getting a faraway look in her eyes.

"Really?"

Eros nodded his head conforming it was true. Aphrodite had a distant look in her eyes as if remembering something. Her eyes were sad and held pain deeper than the ocean itself.

"Perseus." Aphrodite mumbled quietly for only herself to be heard. It wouldn't go well for her son to hear her. It would bring suspicion to her second child. Eros always thought that he was the first and foremost child of Aphrodite but he was wrong. It was Perseus, her first and missing child. Her child that she would never forget. Never.

"_Perseus, come to mommy." Aphrodite clapped her hands to get her child's attention. Aphrodite and Perseus were both in her temple as it was his home as well. He was playing with a dagger and Aphrodite was trying to get him to release the dagger and come with her. _

_Baby Perseus gurgled and smiled, "Mommy."_

"_Yes, Perseus I'm your mommy. Now come over here." Aphrodite smiled, worriedly. The dagger was in his mouth and it was making her nervous._

_Perseus began crawling to his mother with the dagger in his tiny toddler hands. _

_Quickly, Aphrodite dropped to the ground and swiftly grabbed Perseus, while the dagger clanked to the floor. Perseus tried reaching for the dagger, but Aphrodite grabbed it before he even had the chance to even touch it, "No, Perseus. I don't want you cutting yourself, okay. Don't touch it ever again, you understand?"_

_Perseus made a pouting face and began to cry. Why wouldn't this woman let him touch the pointy stick? He wanted to play with it. _

"_Shh, don't cry. You know you're not suppose to touch stuff like this." Aphrodite hugged young Perseus toward her chest and patted his back softly, moving on her feet back and forth to calm her weeping son. _

_He struggled to get out of his mother's grip but she was just too strong. He had to think of something else. He suddenly got distracted by another shiny object. It was a tiny crown that was covered in a silver that made the shiny crown sparkle even more. He reached his hands out trying to reach the gleaming object. It was so pretty._

_Aphrodite, curious to see what he wanted, put him down and watched his son crawl to a marbled bench where a crown lay._

"_Pretty." Perseus spoke in his childish baby voice._

_He was about to touch it when he got picked up by his mother once more. His eyes watered and he was about to let a loud wail escape his immortal baby lungs when the crown was put on his head. Perseus looked up in confusion._

_Aphrodite smiled widely, "My dearest child. This crown represents that you are and will always be mine. You are my little prince and no one will ever take you away from me. I love you, Perseus. I love you..."_

"_Mommy." Perseus gurgled and a little bit of drool dripped from his mouth, "I-I luv you t-too."_

_Aphrodite couldn't help but tear up as she heard those words come out of her child's mouth. She whipped her son's drool and hugged him close to her chest once more. Her child would always be her's and for someone to marry her son it would take a lot. No woman could ever be good enough for her child and if any of those ignorant girls ever tried laying a finger on her son they would pay dearly. _

"_I love you..."_

At the memory of her lost son her eyes began to water. Eros noticed and looked at his mother carefully.

"What's wrong, mother. Aren't you happy to hear this news?"

Aphrodite quickly composed herself, "I'm fine. I need some time to think. Please leave."

Eros nodded, "Mother you might want to put some clothes on too. It's kind of disturbing walking in and seeing you naked." With that said he made his way out the door and closed it behind him.

Aphrodite looked down and noticed that she wasn't even dressed. She snapped her fingers and made the latest wear appear on her body. A purple, sleeveless dress sparkled in the light of the bathroom. She wore silver high heels on her feet and for accessories she wore matching purple earrings and an equally purple heart shaped necklace.

She frowned, "Ugh, this will have to do."

Aphrodite looked at her form, frowning as she did so. Her usual glow was weak and her eyes looked less colorful.

_'I love you, Perseus.'_ Her sad eyes looked down sadly. She had given up on looking for him and it made her feel disgusted with herself. _'I gave up on you. I'm sorry my son...'_

…

Artemis had caught Perseus once he had fallen out of exhaust. She struggled to keep him up, but he was heavy and since she was in her twelve year old form it didn't help.

Her tears had subsided only for worry to take place in her silver eyes, "Perseus?"

Her mind still couldn't comprehend on the fact that this fourteen year old kid was a god and non other than Perseus himself. _'Percy.' _She corrected.

Still, she had something stirring inside of her that told her that this was in fact Percy, the love of her life and the person that had betrayed her. She wanted to throw him in front of a car and watch as he got crushed under it, but then the other side of her said to hug him and keep him close to her. But what if this wasn't Percy? _'Ugh, everything is so damn confusing!'_

Artemis knelt down and took Perseus' head on her lap. This was unlike her. It was the side she had never shown to any of the other gods nor her own hunters. The only person that knew this side of her was Percy himself and she really didn't know if this was him or not.

She looked toward the gray sky and groaned, "Why must you punish me father!"

Thunder rumbled angrily in the distance, which she paid no attention to as she looked down toward the fourteen year old boy that interested her so. Pushing a lock of his raven black hair, Artemis proceed to dragging the unconscious boy to a corner of the alley they were in. She wanted to leave the boy and wished to have him killed, but her heart tugged at the thought of leaving the handsome young man to fend for himself.

She growled, "Why must my feelings come toward you, boy? You are nothing special. You are no hero..."

Percy frowned in his sleep as if thinking the same thing. His innocent face annoyed her, she wanted to punch his lights out right then and there, but of course, she restrained herself.

The ichor on her knuckles began to wash away as the rain poured down from the sky, but she could still smell it and see it. The blood had a weak color to it. It no longer held the once golden aura it had held the first time she had seen it. In fact if this was her Percy then it no longer held its once brilliant color. She looked toward the mysterious boy and noticed how tired he looked. His skin held a slight glow, but not the glow of a god. The glow seemed to be disappearing but it was still there.

Something clicked in her immortal brain and her eyes immediately saddened. He was fading. The thought of the boy ever fading was saddening. She hated boys with a passion but this one seemed to be an exception. Was this the Perseus she had met in the forest? The one that had protected her but that had also betrayed her? That question was swirling in her head. It had been since he had called her Artie. Percy was the only one that knew that name and had ever called her by it. Apollo had tried calling her that, but she always nearly killed him or hung him from the Empire State building.

From the corner of the alley way there were grunts and growls, Artemis knew right away that there were monsters close by. Soon, those monsters would find her and an unconscious Percy.

Once again she began dragging Perseus, but his weight was too much for the twelve year old goddess, "Gods! What do men eat these days, bricks?" Artemis whispered. Yes, she was a goddess but it seemed that Perseus weighed more then Zeus at his full height, which for a god that was pretty big.

The grunts and growls were getting closer and it seemed that Perseus was regaining consciousness and he was also being a little too loud. "Ugh, where in Hades' name am I?" Percy grumbled as he began getting up.

"Guy's I think I heard something over here..." One of the monsters in the group waved over to where Artemis and Perseus were hiding.

Perseus, clearly not seeing the situation they both were in, began crawling out of the hiding place.

Artemis wasn't paying much attention to him until he was close to where the monsters were standing. She panicked, "Perseus, get your ass back here!"

Perseus didn't seem to hear her as he began getting closer to the group of monsters. Artemis shot herself to where Percy stood and yanked him by his hair.

"Ow! What the hell is wrong-" Percy was cut off as Artemis' right hand connected to his cheek in a mighty slap, while her left hand covered his mouth.

"I swear to Zeus if you don't shut up I'll be stitching your mouth together!" Artemis whispered, angrily.

Percy held his cheek in pain, "Seriously? You can at least say 'Please'!"

Artemis scoffed, "Like I'm going to say 'Please' to the likes of you..."

Perseus was about to retort but the group of monsters could be heard stomping their way toward both Artemis and Percy.

"What's that noise?" Percy asked, curiously.

"Monsters." Was the only thing she said before grabbing his hand and dragging him into a dumpster.

"You're kidding."

Artemis smirked, "It's the only thing we've got."

"You're kidding." Perseus repeated.

Artemis rolled her eyes, "Do you want to get captured by those pests?"

"I thought the moon goddess was supposed to be 'smart' and besides you have that silver bow of yours just shoot down those monsters and we'll be done with it..." Percy regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Artemis was about to slap him but he pushed her into the dumpster and dived in, pinching his nose at the horrible stench that emanated from the stinky garbage.

He had pushed her in just in time for the monsters to walk by and stop right in front of the dumpster, sniffing out the air for their scent.

"I swear I heard something." A Telekine looked around, bemused.

"Idiot! You have wax in your ears." A Cyclops smacked the Telekine into the alley wall making the monster disintegrate into sulfur dust.

The Cyclops slung his club over his shoulder and grunted, "Come, we have to find those two. We'll be rewarded greatly for their capture."

The rest of the monsters nodded their deformed heads in agreement and they left the alley not knowing that Percy and Artemis were hiding in the dumpster.

Percy poked his head out of the garbage checking if the monsters had truly left, seeing that the alley was no longer occupied by the ugly monsters, Percy jumped out of the dumpster. He held his hand out for Artemis to take but she declined and jumped out on her own.

"I swear if you ever do that again I'll throw you down a plane and enjoy seeing you break every bone in that little body of yours." Artemis grumbled.

Percy blinked, "Won't I die from such a height?"

"Seeing as you're a god, no." Artemis crossed her hands over her chest and lifted her head up for effect.

Perseus shook his head, "What if I'm not a god? You'd be committing murder."

Artemis laughed bitterly, "I've done worse things then that, what makes you think I won't commit murder as well?"

"Good point." Percy said, while walking away.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Artemis followed right behind Perseus.

"Nothing."

Artemis' anger flared, "Why do you always avoid my questions? I command that you stop."

"You don't command me, I command my self." Perseus argued.

Artemis reached out to grab his hair, but all she seemed to grab was air. She looked around and suddenly felt a slight tapping on her shoulder.

Artemis turned and saw Perseus wave at her in a taunting manner, "Hi."

Artemis growled, "Stop!"

"What am I doing?" Perseus smiled, innocently. His face reminded her so much of the Percy she had met thousands of years ago. The smile that was plastered on his face was enough to light up a persons day, but to Artemis it just sent anger flaring through her veins.

She gritted her teeth together, "Quit that!"

"What?" Percy said, while tilting his head to the side.

"Stop acting all innocent. You men always act like nothing has happened but you don't know what you've done, you don't know the people that you've hurt!" Artemis exclaimed.

"What are you talking about? I've done nothing..." Perseus trailed off.

Artemis whirled around, hunting knife in hand, "You've done everything! You destroyed everything that I cherished and loved the most, you know exactly what I'm talking about, Perseus!"

Percy held up his hands in a manner saying he didn't do anything. He knew exactly what she was talking about, but it would be better to not let it be noticeable. Artemis was very short tempered nowadays and it wouldn't do good to upset the cold goddess.

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about and can you please just put away you're knife. Lets talk like civilized people here." Percy lied.

Without any warning, she jumped at him, pinning the confused god to the floor. Her eyes were like little silvery pools of terror and all Perseus could do was stare at them in confusion. She was scared. It looked like she was on the brink of crying but she didn't let the emotion show much. But Percy knew. He had been with her far too long to notice whenever she got upset or scared. He could read her.

Perseus stayed motionless as she brought the knife toward his neck, but she stopped there. He looked at her tenderly, "What are you waiting for, do it."

"You don't order me."

"Well, I'm just saying if you really want to kill me that badly, then do it. I won't stop you." Percy stared into her watery eyes.

She shook her head, "I don't want to."

"Then why do you hold a knife to my neck?"

She began trembling, her tears almost overflowing her eyes, "I don't know..."

"But you must know." Percy stroked her cheek.

Artemis pushed his hand away, angrily, "Stop!"

"Why?"

"B-because I just want you to leave me alone. Stop trying to protect me." Artemis mumbled.

"I'm not protecting you." Perseus stated.

"Yes you are! I can take care of myself perfectly fine." Artemis said, growling.

"No. I'm only helping a person in need and you seem to be that exact person I'm helping." Perseus said, shaking his head sadly.

"I'm not needy. I don't need help. You act as if I'm a mere mortal when I'm in fact a goddess... You act as if you need to protect me for a reason I may not know. I don't need help nor do I need a stranger helping me for that matter, because you are in fact a stranger." Artemis glared down at Perseus as if he was her biggest enemy or maybe even one of her prey that she caught when she hunted.

Artemis stood, throwing her knife to the wet concrete ground, and began to walk off. Perseus immediately sat up from the position he lay on the hard, cold ground, "Where are you going?"

Artemis froze, "That's none of your concern, boy."

"I think it's much of my concern seeing as Luke knows you're with me and he might try to capture you again. You're in danger now, Artemis." Perseus argued.

"Listen here, Perseus Jackson," Artemis snarled. "That boy is a mortal, while I'm a goddess. I can easily incinerate him with a snap of my fingers. I've killed many that are stronger then that weakling himself... I can even have you at my knees, begging for mercy. Don't tell me what I can and cannot do. I may not know who you are, but if Luke's right then I'd have the pleasure of seeing your little head smashed into a marbled floor!"

Percy stood there receiving the insults of the goddess of the moon with stride. He looked at her closely, narrowing his eyes, and looked deep into those silver crystalline eyes that sent a new fire through his own veins. His anger was barely being controlled and if another insult were to be thrown at the furious godling, he would vent his anger on the closest thing in front of him, Artemis.

He breathed in a shaky breath and looked more respectfully at the goddess, "Then go."

Artemis blinked, "What?"

"I said, go! Don't you get the meaning of that? If you really wish to see your life hanging by a thread, then go. I won't stop you. You're too stubborn now... I don't work with your kind." Perseus glared. He had a composure that clearly read annoyance and boredom.

"What the Hades is wrong with you? At first you're all, _Oh, Artemis this and Artemis that_, but then you explode on me like you can't even stand being in my presence? You men confuse me way too much..." Artemis crossed her arms over her chest. Perseus was getting on her nerves and soon she'd be the one snapping at him.

"I'm just saying, Artemis. Leave. Get killed. Just don't come crying to me for any help." Perseus spit out, bitterly.

Artemis rolled her eyes, "I'm immortal! I'm none dieing. Do. You. Know. The. Meaning. Of. That?"

Artemis spoke as if she were talking to a little five year old. It sent Perseus' anger, raging, "Everything ends! Nothing lives forever! Soon we all come to a stopping point, some are faster then others, but eventually we all meet the face of death."

"You speak as if you know that for a fact rather then an opinion. Why?"

"Because I'll soon meet my time and I won't get to have the person that I love, love me back nor will I get to hear a sorry come out of her dang mouth, because she's so stubborn!" Percy leaned back on the alley wall, close to where the monster disintegrated, and slowly let himself be pushed down by gravity.

Artemis looked closely at the sulking god in front of her and decided to comfort him. She didn't know why, but this godling really did bring the best out of her, even though she wanted to strangle him to death. What if Luke was right all along about this scrawny boy in front of her to be the Perseus she loved and cared about. She had to find out. Artemis needed Percy and after all this time away from him she felt herself dieing more and more inside. The lively god was the only thing that kept her going. His smile would shine her world and leave it glowing for many years, but that light faded long ago. Her world had clashed and exploded after that fateful day that he had destroyed it with his betrayal.

Artemis knew that it would take a lot to forgive him, but she only needed that one smile that lit her for so many years to come back. That one smile may even help her forgive him for his evil deeds.

She decided to speak, "So, you have a lover?"

"No. She was a friend of mine and I loved her, but she never payed any attention to me. What about you, did you have any lucky men on your mind?"

Artemis scoffed, "Me? I don't date."

"But you must like someone. Maybe it's a girl. I don't judge." Percy snickered.

She smacked his arm and glared, "No, I just don't date."

"Uh-Huh, and I'm not a guy to know. Seriously, who do you... like." Percy chuckled. Also, he wanted to find out who she liked. Maybe she already had a relationship... the thought of that set Perseus' anger again, but quickly, he composed himself.

Artemis breathed in a sigh, "Well, I-I used to like this guy, but I killed him."

"Who?"

"His name was Orion." Artemis conformed.

Jealousy sparked in Perseus' eyes, but once again he breathed in a shaky breath, "Oh, is that all?"

Artemis heaved a sad sigh, "No. There was this other guy, he was a god. I loved him..."

"What was his name?"

Artemis hesitated, but decided to tell this stranger her life story. How she appeared in the cursed forest and how she met the love of her life. She didn't know why she told him this, but she felt that she could actually trust this being that sat beside her. This boy had earned her trust in only mere hours and it scared her. Her deep emotions that she kept hidden for so long, wanted to be released. Soon, she found tears flowing down her golden cheeks.

When she was finished the boy sat there, thoughtfully. His eyes held no emotion as he mulled over her words. He was too oblivious to even understand that he was the one she loved nor did she see that he was the one she truly loved. Both were too oblivious to comprehend each others feelings.

"What's the guy's name?" Percy asked after a while.

Once again, she hesitated, but decided to release her lover's name, "... Percy."

Perseus' eyes widened to the size of saucers, "P-Percy?"

She nodded sadly.

Silence came over the two as they sat there silently. Nothing was said. Percy was too surprised to even say a word, while she was just too upset to even speak; afraid that her crying would worsen.

"I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have made you tell me this... I'm sorry." Percy apologized after a while.

Artemis flinched at his apology, those were Percy's last words to her as she was pushed into the portal that separated her from her love, "It's fine, you didn't know..."

_'I'm sorry.'_ The words reverberated through her mind as she thought more about Percy. The god that was beside her just watched in sadness as he saw her in pain. But deep inside he felt like he could fly, fly so high that he'd outmatch Zeus. She loved him. He was also, saddened at the thought of pushing her through the portal. He had broken her heart. _'What have I done...'_

"You remind me so much of him, you know?" Artemis spoke, softly.

Perseus turned his head in shock, "M-me?"

Artemis nodded, "Yeah, you both sort of have the same personality. He was always cheerful and happy. You are too, sometimes... Also, you both have the same eye color and your scent is quiet similar. I only opened up to him, but now I just told you everything. You both are exactly the same... If not for the looks then I'd say you were the same person..."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Percy stared at her with an open-mouthed expression, "I'm not that ugly, am I?"

She snorted, "Yeah."

Perseus glared, "Thanks."

"I'm just kidding! You're not that bad looking yourself, but don't you dare tell anyone I said that." Artemis laughed. It had been the first time she had laughed in years. Her laugh made the sky a little brighter and it also made the rain subside a bit.

Percy smiled, "I'm glad to have amused you."

Artemis stared at Percy, admiration sparkling in her silver eyes. This godling had broken her cold sheet of ice that covered her and opened up a side of her that no one had ever seen, besides Perseus of course.

"Thanks."

"For what?" Percy asked, bemused.

"For making me feel better." Artemis answered, happily.

Percy stared at her for a second and his heart began feeling something that he had thought to have been lost. Love. His heart was beating wildly as he saw a smile plastered on her pink, soft lips.

A genuine smile was on his own lips, "You're welcome... Artie." Though he had whispered the last part for her not to hear. It wouldn't be good for her to find out that he was the Percy that had betrayed her trust and also, her love.

Artemis looked up toward the sky and saw the gray clouds subsiding as well as the rain. It was as if Perseus' own smile lit the sky up and made the rain go away.

_'Thank you, Percy...'_

…

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><p><strong>Well, I Updated! I know it's a little late, but I had some stuff to do. And I'm sorry that it was a little short. Thanks to all who reviewed, added this story to your favorites, and also, alerted my story. I didn't think my story would be good enough for the tough critics on FanFiction (Reviewers) and I didn't think this story would be liked by so many people. Thanks for all of the support that people have given me and please review, it gives me inspiration to keep writing this story and have faster updates. Thanks for reading!<strong>

**Please Review!**

**-PercyxArtemis**


	11. Stubborn

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Mythology.**

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><p><strong>Stubborn<strong>

For a while both gods just sat there, enjoying each others company. But Percy knew that they had to get out of the alley before the monsters actually caught on to their scent and started chasing them.

Percy stood and held out a hand for Artemis to take, she hesitated, but took his outstretched hand into hers. With that single touch she felt a small spark, like an electric shock. Immediately, she let go once she was up. Her head was spinning and her vision was a bit blurry. She held her head trying to calm it.

"You okay?" Percy asked, worriedly.

She nodded her head, "Yeah, I'm just tired."

Perseus nodded, but wasn't convinced. They both needed a place to rest and they couldn't go to Olympus, because Percy didn't want to face the other gods. The gods may get suspicious of him and he couldn't risk seeing his parents. They couldn't go to Camp Half-Blood, because the monsters already destroyed the place. At least that's what Perseus thought.

"Are _you _okay is the better question." Artemis asked, seeing Perseus in deep thought.

"Yeah, it's just that I was thinking on where we could find a place to rest for the night." Percy snapped his fingers figuring it out, "I know! How about we stay in a hotel?"

Artemis grimaced, "A-a hotel?"

"Yeah, that's the only thing that I can think of. Or do you want to stay out here in the cold of the night?" Percy suggested.

Artemis shook her head, "No. I just think that... I don't know. A hotel?"

Percy sighed clearly seeing that she was uncomfortable with the idea of them both staying in the same room, "Don't worry, we'll be staying in separate rooms. That is if you don't like staying alone..."

She looked hesitant on staying in a hotel. Perseus noticed her discomfort and knew that a hotel was a bad idea. Maybe they could stay in the woods. He had a little hiding place around there somewhere. But it wasn't around civilization. In fact it was in the forest. He didn't want for Artemis to know where it was, but since she didn't seem to want to stay in a hotel then he would have to show her his secret hiding place.

"Um, well, if you don't want to then maybe we can stay on my camping site..." Percy rubbed his hands together and nervously looked toward the ground.

"You have a camping site?" Artemis questioned.

"Yeah."

"Okay, then lead the way." Artemis nodded. She was relieved that they would be staying somewhere else other then a stinky hotel where mortals slept and... Well, she didn't want to think what else they did in those rooms. But she did shudder knowing exactly what the mortals had done.

Percy grimaced, "I'd have to flash us there, but..."

"But what?" Artemis questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Never mind. Lets go." Perseus answered. He took hold of her hand before she could react and quickly turned into his true form.

A blue purplish light appeared in a section of a forest that was secluded from all humanity. As Artemis' vision cleared she found herself to stand in a section of a forest that she had never seen before, which was weird since she was the goddess of the forest and she's been to every forest known to man.

Artemis was quiet for a moment, mulling over the thought. This couldn't be the forest where she had met Perseus millennium ago. This forest was different. It was smaller and it didn't hold the aura that the other forest had. It was simply a normal forest.

"Where are we?" Artemis asked, curiously.

"The woods. Where else would we be?"

Artemis shook her head, "No, I meant what part of the woods are we. What forest?"

Perseus scratched his head, "Um... I-I don't know. Aren't you supposed to be the one who knows all about forest's and where they lay?"

"This isn't an ordinary forest. I've been here... where are we really?" Artemis narrowed her eyes toward Perseus.

Percy sighed heavily, "Look, I can't say, okay? Let's just stay for the night and we'll leave at sunrise."

"Where?"

"To Camp Half-Blood." Perseus answered.

"I thought you said it was dangerous to go back, what business do you have over there?" Artemis looked at Perseus, quizzically.

Percy looked confused, "Aren't we going to get your hunters and the remaining survivors?"

Artemis looked as if she had just been slapped, "My hunters..."

"I need to go back." Artemis stated, "My hunters are in danger."

"That's why we're leaving tomorrow at sunrise."

"No, I need to go now." Artemis stubbornly stated.

"You can't go alone, you'll die out there." Perseus frowned.

Artemis growled in frustration, "My hunters are in danger. I need to go now, Perseus. Either you accompany me or I go alone."

Perseus sighed, "Please, Artemis, wait until tomorrow. There's no use of going now when it's the middle of the night."

"I can't wait for tomorrow to come. Their like a second family to me and if I lose them... I won't know what to do without them. I'm leaving." Artemis turned on her heel and was about to walk off, but was stopped by Perseus who grabbed her by her arm.

"Please, Artemis, I know you love them, but understand that you can't risk yourself like this. I put you in a danger that can kill you and your own family. Everyone around me may die because of my mistake. I need you to stay, just for tonight." Perseus pleaded.

Artemis looked at Perseus seeing the worried expression he held in his beautiful ocean colored eyes. They held a pain so deep that it was indescribable. She noticed that this Perseus had the same look as the Perseus she had met millennium ago. It had to be him, but she couldn't jump to conclusions. Perseus had betrayed her and she would never forgive him. But did he really betray her or had he done it for her own well being?

"I'll stay." Artemis whispered.

Percy nodded, "Follow me."

Perseus took the lead seeing as Artemis didn't know where his camping site was. Artemis kept quiet as she followed him, but she was also looking around the new area. It was dark and the only light there was, was the glow that the two gods emanated. The moon was still clouded by the stormy clouds that occupied the sky. It was noticeable that they were still in New York, but what part of New York were they in?

Artemis turned to look at Percy. His glow seemed different; it was very weak. How could she help him? The first step for a god to fade is to become a mortal and then slowly the mortal dies because of the blood it holds. Mortals can't hold the blood of a god and if Percy becomes a mortal he'll still have that blood and eventually, die.

"You're fading, aren't you?" Artemis stated.

Perseus turned to her, surprised, "No... I'm just weak from the fight... Why would you think that?"

"You're glow is weak. I god never gets tired from simply fighting against a mortal, even though that mortal is the son of a god. Why do you keep lying, why don't tell the truth?" Artemis said simply.

"I-I'm not lying," Percy paused not knowing what to say, "I'm telling the truth..."

Artemis shook her head, "No, you're lying."

Percy sighed. It was no use to keep telling her lies, he was horrible at it. It was better if he told her.

"... Yeah, I am fading."

Artemis took a shaky breath, "And you're fine with that?"

Percy shrugged, "I guess. I mean, when you don't have anyone that cares for you in your life you just seem to not care about yourself anymore. The meaning of living is no longer a gift to me. It's simply a sort of Nightmare you could call it..."

"A nightmare..." Artemis trailed off.

"Yeah, a nightmare." Perseus nodded.

"Perseus, I've had some pretty rough times myself, but I don't ever think of dying as the only alternative to run away from my problems. There has to be a way to cure you... To make you live again." Artemis argued.

Perseus grimaced, "... Well, there is a way, but..."

"But?"

"No, I can't. I promised myself I would never ask for her help." Perseus' fists clenched at the thought of asking that woman for any help. She abandoned him. She left him for dead.

"Perseus, this isn't about keeping your pride anymore, this is about your health. Who is this person, maybe I can help." Artemis offered.

Perseus shook his head, "No, I don't need that person's help. And it's not about my pride, it's just... I hate that person with all my heart and I don't need it. I'm fine and I'll survive this."

"Stop trying to sound like you're okay, because you're not. You need help," Artemis looked Percy dead in the eye, "Who is it?"

Percy hesitated, "Um, well, you know her and well, she's my mother."

"Your mother?"

"Yeah, she's Aphrodite." Perseus nodded, nervously.

Artemis gasped, "The love goddess?"

Perseus nodded once more, "Yeah, she's _the _love goddess."

"Of all the people out there it had to be her. So, she's your mother?" Artemis angrily asked.

"Yup, the love goddess is my mother and the sea god is my father." Perseus stated.

Artemis sighed deeply, "So, Luke was telling the truth... You must be quiet powerful then, huh?"

"Well, I wouldn't say powerful, but I am their first child, so..."

"Zeus is going to be furious." Artemis breathed.

Perseus tilted his head in confusion. He had heard that name before. He remembered that his mother would always talk about Zeus and how he would be angry about something, but his memories were still a little blurry therefore it was hard for him to remember what his mother was talking about.

He decided to ask, "Who's Zeus?"

Artemis turned and looked at him incredulously, "He's my father, the king of the gods and heaven... You don't know that?"

"No, I think I've heard of him before, but I never knew who he truly was... So, he's your father?"

"Yeah."

Percy nodded, but said nothing else. His mind was whirling with many questions that hadn't been answered in a while, but he decided not to question her any further. He'd look dumb in front of her and he didn't want that. He already had a bad reputation with her and it wouldn't help to worsen it.

They kept walking in the silence of the night the tension that had gone had come back to haunt them again. Artemis was buried in her thoughts, while Perseus was buried in his own thoughts. Both had many questions, but none had the guts to question each other any further. Perseus broke the silence as they neared some bushes.

"We're here." He stated.

Artemis rose an eyebrow, "Where's here?"

Perseus opened the bushes, "Ladies first."

Artemis scoffed, but entered anyway. A bright warm light welcomed her as she crawled out of the bushes. She stood to her full height and stared in amazement at the sight in front of her, "This is amazing."

"What is?" Percy asked as he crawled out of the bushes himself.

"This. Is this your camping site?" Artemis asked in awe.

Percy nodded, a golden blush appearing on his cheeks, "Y-yeah. Why?"

"It's beautiful." Artemis closed her eyes and breathed in a breath.

Artemis found that the place felt quiet similar to where she used to live with Perseus only that it was completely different. They were inside a tent, but to Artemis it felt like she was in her own temple. Everything that occupied the tent was made out of pure marble and a silver like substance. The tent glowed with an aura of light so pure and clean that she couldn't help but relax her tensed up muscles and let down her inner defenses. She felt at home again, like she was back in the forest where she found Percy. Everything felt the same.

But everything was not the same. She opened her eyes and saw that she was in the tent and not in the forest where she grew up. She turned around and caught Perseus' eye. He too was staring off into the distance, a thoughtful expression on his features.

"What are you thinking about?" Artemis asked, curiously.

"Huh, oh, nothing... I was just thinking about a plan to get your hunters tomorrow." Percy lied.

Artemis knew that he was lying, but decided on not questioning him any further. She was tired from the days events and all she wanted to do was lie in a soft bed and rest for at least a few hours before they left for Camp Half-Blood at sunrise.

"You tired?" Perseus asked when he saw her yawn.

"A little." Artemis winced, while rubbing her arm.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked, worriedly.

Artemis shook her head, "Nothing."

Perseus looked more clearly toward her arm. A long slash could be seen as golden ichor fell from the wound. How couldn't he have noticed before! She was injured and he barely noticed it now? _'I'm so stupid!'_

"You're injured, come with me." Percy ordered.

"I don't need-" Perseus cut her off.

"Are you going to suffer with the pain or are you going to heal it?"

Artemis narrowed her eyes, "I wouldn't be talking if I were you."

"Are you still on about that? I'll be fine, okay. Now, lets go treat that wound of yours." Perseus waved for her to come.

She sighed, but obliged, "Fine."

Both walked toward a big wooden door that had a sort of gold knocker on it that had the shape of the last letter of the Greek alphabet, an Omega Ω.

Perseus opened the mysterious door, while Artemis waited in anticipation to see what laid at the other side. A room. It was an ordinary room that seemed like any other room, but something in the room attracted her to it.

Cautiously, she scanned the room making sure that it wasn't some sort of trap. After seeing that it was safe enough to go in she took a cautious step like she was in a bomb field and smelt the air like an animal sniffing for danger. She was about to sigh when she caught a strange smell that she didn't think of ever smelling it again in her life. The scent was of a rose. But not just any rose, she knew the difference between an ordinary rose and the rose she just smelt. It had been the rose that Percy had given her a long time ago. It was the silver rose. The question was, where was that beautiful rose.

Artemis stood there for a brief moment not knowing how to react to the ancient scent, but she quickly regained her composure and proceeded to sit on the soft, comfy bed.

"Here let-" Perseus had been reaching for her arm only to have Artemis push his hand away.

"I can do it myself." She responded sternly.

Percy nodded, "Okay."

Artemis looked at him, "Can I have my privacy?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry... Um, just call me if you need anything, okay?" Percy spoke a little hurt evident in his voice.

"Okay..."

Quickly, Perseus made his way out the door.

Artemis waited for a second before she jumped off the bed and hurriedly got on her hands and knees looking under the bed. She could feel it, smell it, she could practically taste it's sweet scent. The smell of the rose penetrated her senses with it's lovely poison, because truly, the rose was like a deadly poison to her.

Her eyes landed on a glowing object that sparkled like her own eyes with it's silvery aura. With trembling hands she picked up the deadly rose and stared at it as if it were an offense. _'It can't be...'_

Artemis shot toward the door, opening it in a hurry. _'I need to find him.'_

"Perseus!" She called. No answer.

"Please, Perseus, who are you really?" Artemis questioned in a hoarse voice, "I need to know... Please."

Artemis continued to look, but found nothing. Maybe he went out for a walk or something. She made her way out the bushes, the warmth leaving her completely as she exited the big tent.

"Perseus!" She called out again. Still no answer. She looked at the rose angrily as if him not answering were it's fault.

Artemis let out a frustrated yell, "Where the Hades are you?"

Suddenly, she caught whispers near by and couldn't help but nearing the familiar voices.

"What am I going to do, Apollo. She's onto me... soon she'll find out about me." Perseus' voice spoke up.

Artemis' brother, Apollo, sighed, "How am I supposed to know, you're the one who decided to go to that camp."

"I didn't have anywhere else to go." Percy growled.

"What about the camping site?" Apollo suggested.

"They know where it is." Perseus answered, angrily.

"Then why did you bring my sister here!" Apollo screamed.

Percy shook his head, "It's just for tonight, they won't notice... I hope."

"Let me get this straight, you brought my twin sister with you seeing that you were in danger of getting killed and your powers aren't at their full potential?" Apollo gritted his teeth together.

"What else was I supposed to do, leave her?" Percy argued.

Apollo slapped Percy in the back of his head, "What in Zeus' name is wrong with you!"

"Ow! What the fuck is wrong with _you_!" Percy yelled, rubbing his head in pain.

Apollo's whole body was shaking with anger, "How could you bring her here!"

"I didn't have any other choice..."

"I just can't-" Apollo was cut off by Perseus' small whimper. Apollo turned toward the boy as he clutched his head in pain, his form flickering.

Apollo worriedly grabbed the boy's arm, "It's happening, isn't it?"

Percy could only nod. The pain ripped through him as it flowed through every vein in his body. It was getting worse and soon he wouldn't be able to stand it.

"You need help... Let me help you," Apollo pleaded, "I can't stand seeing you like this and I bet my sister wouldn't either."

Percy shook his head, "No, I'll be fine. I just need to get used to it..."

"Well, then let your mother-"

"No, I will never ask anything from that woman. Never." Perseus stated, stubbornly.

Apollo shook his head, angrily, "Don't you understand that you need help. Stop trying to act so strong, it just makes you look weak, Perseus. I can feel the agony coming off your body and it's because the pain is multiplying. You need to go back to your mother or at least let me help you, please."

"No."

"Fine let yourself fade, just don't come crying to me when you see your body turning into golden dust, you understand me?" Apollo growled.

"Clearly."

Artemis shook her head at the boy's stubbornness. His ego was pretty big if he didn't want any help from neither her brother nor her. Were all boys like this? _'Yes.' _Was her answer.

Suddenly, something rough covered her mouth.

An equally rough voice spoke, "Well, well, well, what do we have here... It seems a little girl lost in the woods. You're not supposed to be out here in the big dark woods."

Artemis swallowed in fear. She knew that voice and she thought to never hear it again. It's power radiated off in torrents.

The general had escaped.

…

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><p><strong>Uh, where should I begin... I'm sooo sorry for the late post and for such a short chapter I've just been really busy. I promise the next chapter will be longer, but there may be a slight delay. I'll probably post the next chapter a little late, so please don't hate. Also, I want to know if you guys want me to make a sequel the story isn't over by a long shot, but I just need to know so I'll start planning. Please, tell me in a review. Another thing. Tell me how I'm doing, because I'm not sure if I'm that good... <strong>

**Please Review!**

**-PercyxArtemis**


	12. Missing

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Mythology.**

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><p><strong>Missing<strong>

"Hermes!" Zeus called out to the occupied god. Hermes was on his snake phone with his ear phones on therefore not hearing Zeus.

"Somebody get those ear phones out!" Zeus ordered.

Dionysus walked toward Hermes' throne and yanked them out, "Hermes, Zeus is calling you."

"On my phone? I didn't hear it ring." Hermes was about to stick his ear phones back in, but Dionysus slapped him in the back of his head.

"No, you idiot! He's been trying to get your attention for the past two minutes and you've been sitting here like a total moron just listening to whatever stupid messages you get everyday." Dionysus turned to Zeus, "Happy? Now, can I go?"

"No, there is a meeting and I need for Hermes to get the rest of the gods that are on the Olympian consul. This is a private meeting, no other god is aloud through the throne room doors, you got that Hermes?" Zeus rose an eyebrow.

Hermes sighed, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got that... How long will this meeting take 'cause I got a lot of mail and messages to take around."

Zeus narrowed his eyes, "Just go."

"Fine."

Hermes stood from his throne in a hurry before Zeus lost his patience with him and ran out the throne room dragging his head phones in the action.

Hermes rose his super mega phone as he climbed the peak of Mount Olympus and rose the mega phone to his mouth, "All Olympian gods to the throne room immediately!" The sound reverberated through the whole of New York with the strength of a 7.0 earthquake.

Hermes stood there for a moment as he saw many flashes of different colored lights appear in front of the throne room. He flashed himself to the throne room in a rush to get the meeting over with.

"There Zeus, you happy? Now, can we begin before I'm cluttered with mail for a month?" Hermes asked.

"No, Artemis and Apollo are still not here. Does anyone know where they are?" Everyone shook their heads, no.

"Will I have to call them too?" Hermes wined.

Zeus nodded.

Hermes sighed, "Right now?"

Zeus nodded once more.

"Fine."

Hermes walked out of the throne room once more in a rush, taking out his snake phone in a hurry as well. "George! Martha! Contact Apollo for me."

George and Martha slithered around the phone, while grumbling. George cleared his throat, "Apollo, is not available right now, please leave a message."

"Stop playing around George, get me Apollo on the phone!" Hermes growled.

"Someone's not in the mood for jokes... Anyway, I can't get to him. Something's blocking me from getting any such contact with him, what do I do?"

Hermes looked at the miniature snake in bemusement, "What do you mean you can't contact him, he always answers... Try again."

Martha cut in before George could even answer, "I already tried, but he still doesn't answer. He might be in trouble, Hermes."

"You're right, I should flash to the location he's at. Martha, could you get me the address or location?" Hermes questioned.

"Of course, Hermes."

After a moment the snake answered, "He's in a very weird location, but he's in this forest around New York that's called Adirondack Forest. I haven't been there before, but it exists I guess... Have you ever heard of that forest, George?"

George shook his small snake head, "Nope, but I bet Artemis knows about it."

"Well, then Apollo's probably visiting her, but the problem is, is that Artemis' hunters are in her temple right now and she's out there. Artemis and Apollo are probably fighting out in the wilderness that's why they're taking forever to get here, don't you think Hermes?" Martha suggested.

Hermes shook his head, "No, something's going on. Apollo would have been here by now..."

Hermes immediately flashed himself to the forest where Martha had tracked Apollo down. Apollo had been talking to Percy as Hermes appeared in front of them.

"What are you doing here, Hermes?" Apollo questioned as he saw his step brother appear from the shadows.

"I'm looking for you... You mind introducing me to your little friend here?" Hermes smiled toward Percy.

Percy held out his hand, "I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."

Hermes reeled back in surprise, "You're barnacle beard's son?" Hermes grinned and shook Perseus' hand, "Welcome to the world of the gods, how are you taking the news about being one of the big three's son?"

"Well, as good as a person can take it. It's nice to meet the great Lord Hermes." Percy grinned back.

Hermes' face began to carry a nice golden hue with the blush that spread among his cheeks, "Well, it's nice to meet the great son of Poseidon. I've heard many things about you boy, your father is very proud of you, Perseus."

Percy grimaced, "Call me Percy... And well, I'm glad he finally claimed me, I was starting to worry."

"Well, he didn't know you existed until Athena told him when they were having one of there 'fights'. Ugh, there were water and feathers everywhere. It was horrible, but that one thing about him having a child stopped him right when he was about to throw a big water ball at her. It hit him worst than any knife or any other weapon could puncture him." Hermes took a seat on a log that was near by and made himself comfortable.

"Yeah, I guess I was pretty startled when that happened, so I think I still need to get on with the fact that Poseidon is indeed my father." Percy fake smiled

Hermes nodded, "You're right, but understand that the guy isn't really in his right mind. He's been rather loco in the head since I met him many millennium ago. Hasn't he Apollo?"

Apollo nodded his head as well, "Yeah, maybe it was the fact that he lost something important to him."

"Maybe." Percy said, throwing Apollo a deadly glare.

Apollo stuck his tongue out, while Percy did the same. Hermes laughed, "You guy's seem to know each other very well."

"You don't know the half of it." Percy grumbled.

Hermes chuckled, "So, um, Apollo, why aren't you on Olympus right now?"

"What, what do you mean why am I not on Olympus right now? I don't have any business up there, at least not that I know of." Apollo asked, bemused.

"I called all of the Olympian god's to the throne room a long time ago and you and Artemis were not present." Hermes stood up from the log, "We need to go now, Zeus is getting impatient." Hermes said as lightning rumbled in the sky.

"Oh, I didn't hear... I know where my sister is, let me go get her." Apollo nodded to where Percy was and ran into the woods.

Hermes clapped his hands together, "So, how's life as a demigod going?"

"Good." Percy smiled, weakly.

Hermes nodded, "That's good..."

"Yup..." Perseus nodded as well.

"This is awkward."

"Yup."

Apollo came screaming out of nowhere, "She's not there! She's not there!"

Percy turned toward Apollo, "What do you mean by 'She's not there'?"

"Artemis isn't in the room you put her in... I can't sense her anywhere!" Apollo gulped in a deep breath trying to catch his breath.

Hermes struggled to keep his cool, but managed, "Okay. Don't worry Apollo, we'll find her... She may have gone and taken a walk around here. This forest is hard to find and I bet it's also hard to track down other people."

"No, no, NO! She's gone. She's out of my radar. I just lost the most important thing in my life because of you!" Apollo pointed angrily at Perseus.

"Now, now, let's be rational, Percy is only an innocent demigod who is still confused on who he really is. Let's just look for her, okay?" Hermes put his hands on Apollo's broad shoulders.

"No, it's all that bastard's fault!" Apollo screamed.

"I didn't do anything. I've been trying to protect her ever since I met her, you never cared about her, well, not until I made you promise on the Styx to protect her with your life. You don't really care about her!" Perseus growled.

Hermes looked on in bemusement, "Wait. What are you talking about, Percy?"

"Yeah, 'Percy', what are you talking about, hm?" Apollo smirked knowing that if Hermes knew who Percy really was then the news would spread like wild fire and Perseus wouldn't like that one bit.

Percy crossed his arms over his chest, "You know what, I'm not dealing with this shit nor will I deal with an asshole like you."

Apollo gasped, "You did not just call me an asshole!"

Percy was about to say something, but Hermes cut him off, "Come on you two let's just calm down, okay?"

"No! This 'demigod' needs to learn a lesson on respecting his elders!" Apollo said as he pulled up the sleeves of his long sleeved shirt.

"Yeah, well, you don't seem so elderly to me!" Percy growled.

"No, because I'm a god and you're a demigod, and since I'm better then you I command that you-" Apollo was cut off by Hermes.

"Stop! Both of you need to stop and get your acts straightened. Artemis is missing and you're both just standing there like complete idiots fighting over something so stupid as to calling each other names. It's no one's fault that Artemis is missing and we just need to concentrate on finding her." Hermes ordered.

Percy sighed, "I guess..."

Apollo sighed as well, "Yeah, well, this isn't over, but I agree. We should go look for my sister, but the only problem is that we don't have a clue where she is. Any ideas?"

"Nope..." Percy trailed off, "Wait. I think I might have a clue, but..."

"But what?" Apollo urged.

"Apollo, you know when I told you that I was being chased and that I had to go in hiding because of it?" Percy looked nervously toward the ground.

"Yeah."

Percy bit his lip nervously, "Well, when we almost got captured by Luke... Well, he said that the General would be pleased by my capture since Kronos has been looking for me. I think the General took her, but I don't know where."

Apollo inhaled a deep breath, "It can't be."

"Wait, what about Kronos? And by the General, do you mean Atlas?" Hermes asked, bemused.

Percy and Apollo looked at each other nervously. Percy nodded, "Yeah, Atlas has escaped and he and Luke are trying to bring back Kronos from Tartarus."

"Oh, no... Zeus must know immediately. We have to go to Olympus and tell him at the meeting that's being held." Hermes worriedly said, "Oh, and the other gods of course."

Apollo nodded, "Yeah, we must go."

"Percy, you're coming with us too since you know a lot about this problem." Hermes was about to snap his fingers to flash himself up on Olympus, but was stopped by Perseus.

"I can't."

Hermes turned with an eyebrow raised, questioningly, "What do you mean you can't? I'll flash us up there if transportation is your problem."

"Uh, no, I-It's just t-that I c-can't" Percy stuttered.

Before Hermes could say anything, Apollo broke into the conversation, "Don't worry, Perce, we'll get you up there, there isn't nothing to worry about. We gods are very, very friendly, we won't hurt a little demigod like you, well, at least while Poseidon is up there." Apollo smirked.

Percy glared, "No, I'm not scared, it's just that I don't want to go."

"Come on Percy. You're the best one to explain to Zeus what's going on, and besides, you get to see you're old man up there." Hermes patted Percy on the back.

"Yeah, Percy, you'll get to see your _dad_." Apollo taunted.

Perseus let out a low growl, "I don't want to see him I already saw him a few days ago. I'm fine, you two just go without me."

Hermes shook his head, "Sorry, Percy, but we can't do that. You're like the only demigod that's not injured and we can't afford having another demigod injured for that matter. The hunters of Artemis are also, all beat up. Zeus would kill us if we left you out here to fend for yourself, oh, and also your dad, which would be worse since me and Apollo would have to run from two _very _powerful gods."

"Yep, so either you come with us the easy way or... the hard way." Apollo smiled evilly, pounding his hand with his fist for effect.

"Well, I guess I can-" Percy took off running without finishing his sentence. The two gods looked at each other and began to chase down the stumbling 'demigod'.

Apollo used his powers to add a little more speed. Percy was fast, but he was weak at the moment, and since Apollo had used his powers he immediately caught up with Percy. Apollo jumped on poor Percy and held him down while he struggled.

"Stop!" Apollo commanded.

Percy growled, "Let me go! I don't want to go to Olympus!"

"I swear if you don't stop I'll tell everyone of your little secret, now suck it up and obey!" Apollo whispered angrily in Perseus' ear.

Percy immediately stopped, "Fine. But I swear if you tell anybody while we're up there I will stop at nothing to kill you, got that?"

Apollo chuckled bitterly, "Yeah, well, I'm not the one that's being held down, so if I were you I wouldn't be making threats."

"Okay! Now, get off me!" Percy squirmed from under Apollo.

Apollo stood up, raising Percy up by the collar of his shirt. "I got him!" Apollo yelled to Hermes.

"We need to hurry, Zeus is getting impatient." Hermes shifted nervously as thunder rumbled shaking the earth.

Quickly, both gods adverted to their true form taking a whimpering Percy with them.

As Percy's vision cleared, he saw white and golden buildings all around with many other gods running about, attending to their own business.

Hermes patted Percy's back, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Percy grimaced, "Yeah, very."

"What's wrong, champ, don't you like it?" Hermes asked.

"I love it, but I'm just... nervous is all." Percy smiled weakly.

Hermes smiled, a genuine smile, "Aw, don't be nervous, we're all family here. Make yourself at home young hero, because this is, in fact, your home."

Percy swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat, "Okay." He said weakly.

He remembered this place all too well. He remembered walking some of these streets with his mother, but in hiding of course. His mother would always protect him from the other gods eyes, she would say to him that it was dangerous and that he should never speak to one of them unless she told him otherwise.

He wouldn't admit it, but he missed those times terribly. He missed being in the arms of his mother. He missed his family...

"_Perseus!" A sweet voice called out. _

_Young Perseus put his little toy horse down, he looked to be around four or five years old, "Yeah, mommy, what is it?" His vocabulary was more advanced then any other young toddler, because of his godhood. _

_Aphrodite came running from the other room, her hair in a mess and her cheeks tear stained. _

_Immediately, Perseus stood up, "What's wrong, mommy? Were you crying?" _

"_No, honey, I was just talking to your father." Aphrodite answered, sniffling. _

_Perseus' fist's clenched, "What did he want?" _

"_Don't get angry, he just wanted to see how you were doing. He also, wanted to take you to his palace so you could meet his soon to be wife." Aphrodite rubbed her arm where a bruise lay, she was wincing and that's when Perseus realized that Aphrodite had a little blood trickling from her mouth. _

_Perseus growled, "He hit you, didn't he." _

_Aphrodite winced, "No, honey, he didn't. Why would you think that?" _

"_Blood is trickling from your mouth and you also, have a few bruises around your body. What did he do to you? What did that evil man do to you?" Perseus gritted his teeth together in anger. To Perseus his father was an evil and sick man. He hated his father with all his heart._

_Aphrodite whipped her mouth with her shaking hand, "H-he didn't d-do anything." _

"_Stop trying to protect him, mom! Every time you two have one of your special 'talks', you end up hurt. You try to hide your pain, but I hear you in the dead of night crying because of your wounds. Why must you see him? All he does is hurt you, mommy." Perseus' eyes started to water. _

_Aphrodite ran up to him, "Don't cry. He hasn't hurt me. I just got into fight, but he hasn't laid a finger on me." Aphrodite seemed to be reassuring herself rather then Perseus. "He would never hurt me..." _

_Perseus' body was shaking with anger, "Why do you lie to me and yourself? You know he's hurt you before, why must you protect him?" _

"_I'm not protecting him, Perseus, I'm just... trying to protect you." Aphrodite sniffled. _

"_I don't need you to protect me, mom, I can protect myself. One day I'll take revenge on him because of what he's done to you. He'll regret the day he ever touched you." Perseus hugged his mother tightly, while tears began to shed from his beautiful ocean blue eyes. _

_Aphrodite smiled weakly, "Oh, my son... You don't how much I love you." She ran her fingers through his thick, black hair. _

"_Of course I do, because I love you more, mommy. I always will." Perseus smiled widely. _

"_And I'll always love you my son... even though you're also, the son of my enemy." Aphrodite whispered. _

"_He's not my father, he'll never be a father to me. Never." Perseus snarled. _

_Aphrodite frowned, "I wish he weren't your father either." _

"_I decree that he isn't my father," Perseus stated, "He is not and will never be my father, is that okay, mommy?" _

_Aphrodite nodded slowly, "Yeah, let's pretend your father is dead." Aphrodite stared out toward the distance, "He's dead. Your father is dead to me and you, Perseus."_

"_He's dead." _

"Dead." Percy whispered.

Hermes turned to him, bemused, "What?"

Percy shook his head keeping his eyes on a sparkling, white building. It seemed to release a purplish, pink aura, "Nothing."

"Okay." Hermes said, thinking that Percy was a little unsure of who he was at the moment. He had never seen a reaction like Percy's when other demigods first see Olympus.

Apollo cleared his throat, "Shouldn't we head to the throne room now?"

Hermes nodded his head, "Yeah, we should. We don't want Zeus to be any angrier than he his already."

Apollo and Hermes began making their way to the throne room when they noticed that Percy wasn't following them. "Hey, kid, you coming?" Hermes shouted.

Percy was ripped out of his trance, "Y-yeah, I'm coming."

Percy followed Apollo and Hermes to the throne room. He wasn't in the mood to see his parents, especially his mother. His mother betrayed him and he would never forgive her for such a crime. The surprising thing was, was that he really didn't care if he saw his father. At least his father hadn't betrayed him like his mother.

Apollo and Hermes stopped in front of the doors, "You ready to be amazed?" Hermes questioned, excitedly.

Percy shrugged, "I guess."

Apollo scoffed, "That's the spirit."

"Shut-up Apollo, you're not the sunniest god on the block when it comes to mornings, which is surprising since you're the god of the sun," Hermes chuckled, "Well, how the humans say it, your anger burns with the intensity of a thousand suns."

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny." Apollo pushed Hermes.

"Just saying." Hermes snickered.

"I don't get it." Percy frowned.

Hermes stopped, "What don't you get?"

"The joke."

"Well, it's like this, he's the sun god and-" Apollo cut Hermes off.

"Enough. You know Zeus hate's it when we make him wait." Apollo said, "And sometimes I question your sanity."

"What?" Hermes asked, confused.

"Nothing."

Hermes shrugged and opened the big golden doors that led to the throne room. As the three gods walked in they saw nine gods sitting in their respective thrones arguing amongst themselves. When the nine gods saw them they immediately quieted down and began to stare at them with a new found interest, but they were mostly staring at Percy.

Athena spoke first, "What is _that _doing here?"

Poseidon glared at her, "He isn't a that or an it or anything else for that matter, Athena, he is my son and you will treat him with respect."

"Ha! Don't make me laugh Poseidon, If I don't treat _you_ with respect why would treat your son any better, hm?" Athena scoffed.

"Because he's the child of the Prophecy." Poseidon answered simply.

"You don't know that, there is still many chances that someone else is the child of the Prophecy or that your spawn will get kill, hopefully the latter." Athena retorted.

Poseidon gritted his teeth together, "I swear if you don't shut-up I'll-"

Athena cut him off, "Or you'll do what? Drown me with a cup of water?"

"No, but you'll regret you were ever born." Poseidon growled.

Zeus shot a lightning bolt at Poseidon, but luckily for him, he deflected it with his trident, "You will do nothing to my daughter, Poseidon or else you'll have to go through me."

"You don't scare me, Zeus." Poseidon glared.

"Well, you should be scared, because-" Hera cut him off.

"Can we begin the meeting now?"

Zeus looked around at the present gods before him, "No, Artemis isn't here yet," Zeus looked toward Hermes, "Hermes, I thought I told you to get Artemis and Apollo, not Apollo and this... demigod."

Hermes cleared his throat, "Well, that's why this _demigod_ is here, because we have a slight... problem."

"And what would this _problem _be?"

"Artemis is missing." Hermes said simply.

All the gods turned their attention toward Hermes. Zeus blinked, "What do you mean by 'Artemis is missing' I just saw her yesterday."

"Yeah, well, when the camp was attacked her and this demigod here escaped from the hands of our enemies and well, why don't I let him tell you himself." Apollo looked toward Percy.

Zeus nodded, "Well, demigod, what happened?"

"Wait, what is this... demigod's name?" Aphrodite spoke up as she took a good look at Percy.

"What is your name young demigod?" Zeus asked Percy.

Percy cleared his throat, "Perseus, Perseus Jackson."

Aphrodite almost spit out the wine that she was drinking, "What did you say?"

Athena rolled her eyes, "Are you deaf? He said his name is 'Perseus Jackson'."

"I know what he said," Aphrodite glared, "I just needed it to be repeated, not by you, but by him."

"Can we move on now?" Ares asked, bored.

Zeus nodded, "Yes, well, young Perseus, explain to us what happened."

Percy proceeded to explain what happened. He left many things out, because they would suspect who he was and what he was. He couldn't risk it.

"So, Artemis was captured by Atlas?" Athena asked.

Percy nodded sadly, "Yep, I don't know where Atlas took her to nor does Apollo."

"Yeah, I lost her out of my radar, I can't feel her anymore." Apollo said, sadly.

"We need to order on a quest, but all our demigods are injured." Hermes suggested.

"Except for one." Everyone looked toward Percy.

Percy looked up, startled, "Don't look at me, I'm new at this."

Apollo snorted, "Yeah right, and I'm a mortal."

Percy glared at him, but said nothing.

"You're the only one that can go on this quest, well, you and Thalia. Also, we must send a hunter of Artemis. We should send Zoë since she's Artemis' lieutenant. Zoë will want some help, so we'll send that new hunter, Bianca. " Athena suggested.

Zeus held his bolt up, "Votes for sending those four on this quest?"

Surprisingly, everyone rose their hand up.

"Good. Then it's settled, Perseus, Thalia, Zoë, and Bianca shall go on this quest." Zeus authorized, "Hermes, go and get my daughter and those two hunters, hurry."

Hermes nodded, "Yes, father."

Hermes ran off, while Apollo bowed toward his father, "Father, I must talk to Perseus in private, may I have your permission to leave?"

"Yes." Zeus answered.

"Thank You, father."

Apollo grabbed Perseus by the collar of his shirt and dragged him out of the throne room, Aphrodite sneaking behind them. "You're lucky I didn't say anything, because I could have told everyone who you really are and what you're truly hiding. Aphrodite seemed to be suspicious and remember, if she knows your little secret, everything is ruined for you. You better save my sister or else, I'll tell everyone your secret, got that?"

Percy yanked himself from the hold Apollo had on him, "I don't need your threats to save Artemis, because I already planned to do it after this meeting without Zeus telling me to go on this stupid quest. So, why don't you get your little sunny ass out there and look for her, too."

"You don't order me around, kid, 'cause I got something on you that will destroy everything you created. You'll be ruined and I'll be the one having the last laugh." Apollo threatened.

"You don't scare me, Apollo. I can defeat you in a second, remember the forest?" Percy narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, I remember clearly. You abandoned my sister the day we left. My sister cried for you, begged for you to come back, but you didn't care, you abandoned her like an old shoe. I was the only one besides my mother that could come close to her and now, you come along and ruin her. If you hadn't appeared she would still be here." Apollo said, emotionally.

"I didn't abandon her!" Percy snarled, "I only did what was best for her, while you only thought of yourself. You didn't even care about her when you first got there, you wanted for her to be dead. The only reason you care now, is because I made you swear on the Styx to take care of her."

"Will you stop with that? I know I was selfish, but I care about her now. I don't care about that stupid promise that I made millennium ago. The important thing is that I care about her now and that I'll always be there to protect her, unlike you." Apollo spit out bitterly.

Aphrodite looked confused. Perseus and Apollo seemed to know each other from a while back, a long while back. But Perseus was only about fourteen years old, while Apollo was thousands of years old, how could Perseus know Apollo that well? Perseus showed no respect for Apollo and that should have made Apollo throw a tantrum or fry the demigod to a crisp, but Apollo almost acted as if he were scared of Perseus. What was going on?

Aphrodite listened in more closely. "Look, I don't care if you think that I'm some bad person, but I've done nothing but think about her all this time and try my best to protect her from any harm. I'll save her, but the thing is, is that, that this may be my last chance to make things right." Percy's head was held down in shame.

Apollo's eyes seemed to soften, "Well, I already offered you my help, but you didn't want it. Why don't you try to make amends with your mother? You can earn so much with just forgiving her and telling her who you truly are."

"I can't, I just can't. The pain is still buried deep inside of me, Apollo." Percy put his head in hands and slumped down from the pillar he had been leaning on.

Apollo sighed, "Well, are you just going to fade like this?"

_'Fade? Why would this demigod fade if he isn't even a god?' _Aphrodite asked herself. She was beyond confused now. This demigod was very interesting to her, but was he a demigod?

"I don't know." Percy groaned.

"Come on, Percy, let's go. I bet Thalia, Zoë, and Bianca are ready to go." Apollo lent out a hand for Perseus to take, "Even though I hate you, I still don't like seeing you mope around like this."

Perseus took his hand gradually, "I hate you too, Apollo, but in a good way."

Apollo chuckled, "Humph, I wonder how you hate a person in a good way?"

"Well, it's simple. It's when you hate a person, but you don't kill them." Percy explained.

Apollo snickered, "Well, I hate you in a good way, too."

Perseus and Apollo walked off teasing each other and fighting over how long Percy would last with the two aggressive girls that were going on the quest with him.

Aphrodite walked out from behind the pillar she was hiding in and looked closer toward the two leaving figures, but she only concentrated on one. Perseus.

"Who are you really, Perseus?" Aphrodite asked herself.

She would find out who this demigod truly was. A thought crossed her mind as she stood there. This demigod was the son of Poseidon, maybe she could finally have her revenge on Poseidon by putting his son in danger on this quest. Her chances were slim, but she could probably make the boy fall in love with one of the demigoddess. And she knew just the one. Annabeth.

That daughter of Athena would be a great tool for this game, but Annabeth had disappeared along with some of the demigods that had been captured when the monsters attacked Camp Half-Blood. _'I'll find her and I'll make that foolish boy fall in love with her. Poseidon won't know what hit him.' _

But another thought also hit her. When Apollo and Perseus were talking they spoke about Artemis being abandoned by Perseus. What if Perseus and Artemis were in love? Making Perseus fall in love with Annabeth would be ten times more exciting if Perseus and Artemis were already in love.

_'This game is going to be fun... Let the games begin.' _

…

"Walk!" said a monster as it pulled Artemis along.

Artemis growled, but kept quiet.

As the monsters led her toward Mount Tam her fear wrapped itself around her heart. No one was here to save her, but something crossed her mind. Who was holding the sky if Atlas was standing by her?

Atlas chuckled, "You're wondering who's holding the sky if I'm right here, right?"

Artemis kept her silence.

"Well, you're going to find out pretty soon..." Atlas laughed evilly.

Sooner than expected, Artemis saw a figure struggling to hold the weight of the gray sky. She couldn't make out the figure really well, but she noticed that the person that was holding the heavy sky had long hair. As they got closer, she began to make out the figure. It was a young girl that seemed to be around the age of a fourteen year old. The girl had blonde hair, gray, startling eyes, and tan complexion. It was the leader of the Athena cabin as well as the daughter of the great wise goddess. It was Annabeth.

Artemis gasped, "How could you!" She growled, her anger rising.

"I had to have somebody lift the sky up for me. I'm glad that I had that son of Hermes help me or else I would have never gotten that unwise, daughter of Athena." Atlas chuckled.

"Let. Her. Go!" Artemis demanded.

Atlas put a figure under her chin, "And why would I do that, hm?"

Artemis yanked herself from his flimsy hold, "You bastard!"

"I know, but if you really want her to be released, what would you do for me?" Atlas smiled, crookedly, "Would you pleasure me or maybe help me rule the world as my wife?"

Artemis' anger rose, "Neither. I'd rather die than be with a disgusting pig like you!"

Atlas ignored her comment, "Think about it, you, me, and the world at our command. Zeus and Hera will never order you around again and you'd have all the treasures you pleased. I'll even release your mother from the dungeons Hera put her in."

"Even if you gave me those things I would never marry a snob like you." Artemis hesitated. The last offer was too hard to resist, but she had to control herself.

Atlas snorted, "Yeah, well, I could see that last offer really got on to you," Atlas smirked, "Imagine. You and your mother finally having that moment of bonding. Wouldn't you like to hug your mother once again? To keep her living like the queen she rightfully is? I know you want to, Artemis. Be my wife and I'll give you... _Everything_."

"Never." Artemis spit out bitterly.

"This is your last offer. Be my wife or else I'll make you." Atlas grabbed her chin roughly.

"No." She spit on him.

Atlas growled, "Fine. Have it your way. Guards! Put her in the dungeons." He ordered.

Artemis struggled from her bonds, "No! I'll make a deal with you. Let the girl go and have me hold the sky instead."

Atlas thought for a moment, "... Okay. Guards, release the girl and put Artemis under the sky. Oh, and bring me my whip, will you?"

One of the monsters saluted, "Yes, m'lord."

Atlas pushed Artemis along, "Maybe this will change your mind, my dear."

The monsters took hold of both Artemis' arms and dragged her toward the struggling demigod. The young girl was pale and sweating immensely.

"What have they done to you?" Artemis knelt in front of the girl.

Annabeth turned her attention to the goddess, but said nothing. Her energy and strength, gone.

Artemis rose and put her hands on the sky, "Let go." She ordered.

Annabeth did as she was told and fell to the ground in a heap. "Thank you." Annabeth whispered.

Artemis took in a deep breath. This was the best way to go down and the only person that was on her mine was, Perseus. She remembered his smile and the way he always made everything better. _'Please, save me.'_

Atlas came up to her with a big metallic whip, "Now, this will teach you to respect me."

The whip came down toward her back and slashed her with it's painful hot blade. Atlas had passed it through a slow fire therefore making the whip hot.

She cried out in pain as the whip hit her again and again and again. The pain was deep, but not as deep as the time Percy left her. Tears sprang into her eyes as the whip slashed her skin, golden ichor gushing out, leaving pools of it at her feet.

_'Save me.' _

Oh, how she wished that Percy was here by her side, protecting her from this pain. He would do anything for her. Anything.

_'Help me.' _

If Percy were here, he would kill Atlas in a nanosecond. She knew it. But maybe he would just stand there and watch as she got hit with this cursed whip. He watched as he pushed her into the portal, why would he try saving her now?

_'Don't leave me.'_

_'Take the pain like you're supposed to.' _She told herself. _'He's gone and now, you need to protect yourself. I'm a big girl now.' _

But was she really? She still needed him. He was the only thing that kept her going and now she walked like a dead person in a human body. He was the light at the end of the tunnel, but now she was stuck deep in the tunnel. Deep into a mass of pure darkness.

_'Save me.' _

…

* * *

><p><strong>Hey, guys. Well, I had some time to type this chapter up and well, I hope you like it. I love every single review that you guys give me and all the feedback that you people send me in a private message. Thanks and well, enjoy!<strong>

**Thanks!**

**Please Review!**

**-PercyxArtemis**


	13. Alive

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Mythology.**

* * *

><p><strong>Alive<strong>

Percy stood in front of Thalia, Zoë, and Bianca. They all observed each other, thinking that being put together for a quest was the most dumbest idea the gods had ever planned out, but then again, Athena had suggested they be put together, so they would never say it out loud.

"So, where do you guys want to look first?" Percy sighed as he ripped his gaze from the three demigoddesses.

Thalia blew a bubble with the gum she was chewing, "I don't know, what do you two think?" Thalia looked at the two huntresses, while popping the bubble she had made.

Zoë crossed her arms, "My Lady is captured, we must look to wherever she was last, any ideas?"

"I think we know that Artemis' captured, we don't need that to be repeated." Thalia grumbled.

"I don't think we should be fighting, guys," Percy got in between Thalia and Zoë before anything else happened, "We need to think where Atlas could have taken her."

"Since thou were with her, why don't thou show us where she was last. I still cannot comprehend why My Lady would be with one of thee male species." Zoë narrowed her eyes at Percy, "What were thou doing with My Lady anyway, boy?"

Percy swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. Just thinking of Artemis was too hard to bare, and the fact that she was captured by a titan didn't help the cause, "I-I was having a-a normal... talk with her. Yeah, that's what I was doing..."

Zoë gritted her teeth together, "What were thou doing with My Lady, scum."

"I wasn't doing anything, I was just having a peaceful talk with her, okay?" Percy snapped out.

"Thou have-" Zoë was cut off by Bianca.

"Zoë, I think Percy's right. We can't fight for things that don't even matter anymore, we have to look for Artemis. Please, can you at least hold your temper for Artemis." Bianca pleaded.

Zoë sighed, "Fine. But only for My Lady, Artemis."

"Well, where do we head first?" Thalia looked toward Percy.

Percy cleared his throat, "I think we should head west. That's where Atlas' fortress is, right?"

"Okay then, we head-"

A sudden screech came and a clopping of hooves being slammed against the asphalt were heard. "Wait, Wait! Don't leave without me! I want to go too."

Thalia turned, "Grover, what are doing here?"

Grover stopped in front of Thalia trying to catch his breath, "I-I want to go. P-please? I won't be much of a-a weight for you guys."

"Oh, no! We already have a boy on this quest, we don't need a satyr to make it worse." Zoë argued.

"Please, I just want to help Lady Artemis. I want to be useful for once, and this quest will make me prove myself that I'm good enough to be a searcher for Pan. I need this. Please?" Grover knelt before Zoë, wanting for the cold huntresses to agree on him going.

"No, I just-"

"Of course you can go. We need all the help we can get." Percy smiled at Grover.

Grover's bottom lip quivered, "Really? Thank you!" Grover yanked Percy into a warm bear hug.

Percy grimaced, "Yeah, um, can you let go now?"

"Uh, sure." Grover let go, but stumbled to his feet, bowing down to Percy, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You don't know how much this means to me. A great hero like you actually paying attention to a bottom, life satyr like me. I am forever in your gratitude."

Percy pulled Grover up by his arm, "Come on, I really don't like people doing that. I'm not a big hero, nor am I great. We're all friends here, and we shouldn't be bowing down to each other like this. You owe me nothing, satyr. What's your name?"

"Uh... G-Grover." Grover stuttered.

Percy held out his hand, "It's nice to meet you, Grover."

Grover shakily took Percy's hand, "Uh-huh."

"Now, Zoë," Percy turned to Zoë, "Do you know where your father's fortress is?"

"He's not my father," Zoë glared at Percy, "But I do know where Atlas' fortress is."

"Wait, what do you mean by Zoë's father?" Thalia cut in.

"That's none of your business, daughter of Zeus." Zoë glowered in Thalia's direction.

"I think it is my-"

"Please, guy's, can we not fight for like five minutes? Now, can you tell us where Atlas' fortress is, Zoë." Bianca questioned.

"His fortress is in California. Mount Tam to be specific." Zoë answered.

"Mount Tam? I-I think I know where that is, but it's pretty far from here. We need transportation." Percy said.

Thalia smirked, "Well, if transportation is the thing we need, I know how to get a... ride."

"Oh, no, I know that look... What are you thinking?" Grover clopped his feet on the ground, nervously.

"Nothing... nothing at all..." Thalia trailed off, but smiled evilly, "Let's go get our ride, shall we?"

Everyone looked at each other nervously. This wasn't going to be fun. At. All.

…

Aphrodite stood alone on her balcony. As she stood there, her thoughts wandered off to the boy. The son of Poseidon. Something about him... He was so mysterious. His character, so... her? Yes, the boy seemed to hold something. It was something that she looked at everyday when she stared at herself in the mirror. His eyes drawled her in. Made her want to know more. He held something secret, and she wanted to know what that 'Secret' was. She would, and when she did, she would know what he truly hid in his ocean blue eyes.

"What _do _you hide, demigod?" Aphrodite thought aloud.

"What demigod?" A voice questioned from the doorway to her room.

Aphrodite turned in surprise, "Huh? Oh, nothing. I was just... thinking."

"Thinking? Well, that's a first." The voice grumbled.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Aphrodite glared.

"Oh, nothing. You just seem to be awfully suspicious, but than again, don't you always have some scheme in that dirty mind of yours?" The person walked toward Aphrodite, stopping as she got to where Aphrodite leaned over the balcony, "So, what is that little head of yours scheming this time, huh?"

Aphrodite let out a growl, "Why do you want to know so badly, Athena?"

"Well, it seems that you're having second thoughts on destroying the spawn of Poseidon... Am I right?" Athena innocently smiled.

"How do you know about that?" Aphrodite questioned, surprised.

Athena shrugged, "Hm, that's not important, what's important is that fact that you're not wanting that sweet revenge you want on Poseidon. Since I want revenge against him, I'll help you with your little scheme."

Aphrodite scoffed, "Well, I don't think you want to know my plans."

"Why wouldn't I? It's revenge on Poseidon after all," Athena smirked, "And that opportunity rarely come's up."

"Not when your daughter's involved."

Athena went pale, "What! Which one?"

"Annabeth." Aphrodite answered simply.

Athena began turning red with anger, "Annabeth? What does she have to do in your plans, anyway? You're not using my daughter for any of your games, Aphrodite."

"You did say it was for revenge, why change your mind now, hm?" Aphrodite smiled evilly, "And you wouldn't mind passing this _big_ opportunity to take revenge on your archenemy, would you?"

Athena gritted her teeth, "But not my daughter!"

"It's revenge on Poseidon, Athena. Why are you getting so worked up about this?"

"You're using one of my children!" Athena yelled.

"Yeah... You're point is?"

"You're not going to do this. I won't allow you to." Said Athena.

"And how are you going to stop me?" Aphrodite smirked.

"I'll find a way, I always do." Athena turned on her heel, and stormed out of the room in a flash of gray light.

"Somebody's in a bad mood..." Aphrodite trailed off, smiling.

Aphrodite laughed. It was a lunatic laugh; she had gone insane. Her once sane mind, rotten to the core. The love goddess was no longer there. The one that stood in her place was a stranger to love.

Her laugh turned into a sudden, scared gasp. Clutching her head as the new wave of pain came. But this wave came stronger than most. It dulled her every sense, her every pore. The pain electrified her body like one of Zeus' thunder bolts. Why was this happening to her? What was causing her this massive, petrifying pain? What had she done to earn this? She hadn't asked for this. No one would be as stupid enough to ask for this excruciating pain. No one.

She clutched the marbled balcony trying to ease the pain by breathing deeply. Her heart pounded fast and hard. Sweat beaded on her forehead.

Closing her eyes tightly, she stumbled to the floor on one knee.

Visions. Visions began flashing in her head with different scenes. The images were like a slide show on fast forward. Aphrodite could only see flashes of light, and voices whispered in her head.

Stopping abruptly, the scenes morphed together into one. A young four year old boy appeared lying on a forest ground. His breathing was quick and short, and sweat was spread all over his body. He shivered, and his skin was as white as snow.

"_M-mama?" His voice trembled with fear, "Please, help me. W-where are y-you?" _

'That voice...' Aphrodite thought, 'I-I know that voice, but who is it?"

_The boy stared at the sky, his eyes with a pleading gaze. _

Aphrodite struggled to remember. He looked so familiar... Her memories seemed to click into place as she recognized the child's face. It was her son, Perseus.

_The boy began convulsing as a glow wrapped itself around him. A scream broke out through the child's lips, and echoed through the forest. The glow began growing, and his screams intensified. _

"_Help me, somebody, anybody! Please!" He screamed. _

Aphrodite wanted to run to him, and help, but she knew she couldn't. This was all but a vision, an illusion. Her son was gone, dead, obliterated by his father. It was part of her imagination. Everything. Why couldn't these thoughts ever leave her alone?

_Another scream. _

"_Mother, please, come save me," The boy wailed, "I need you, why are you abandoning me, why? Can't you see I'm hurt, can't you see I'm... Fading?" _

_Another scream. _

"_I needed you, I needed... you." The glow subsided, but it left it's mark. The young boy had stopped moving. His eyes closed, and his breathing no longer-no it was. It was there. A small sigh left his mouth. Slowly his eyes opened. _

"_I'm fading, mother," He whispered sadly, "I'm fading." _

The image slowly faded from her mind. It left an emptiness so deep in her cold heart that it could not be described in simple words.

Aphrodite sighed, shakily, "I-It's part of your imagination. That wasn't real. He's already dead, he can't be alive. He can't." Aphrodite nodded, "Yeah, he's dead. My son is dead."

"M-my little boy is d-dead." Her voice trembled.

Aphrodite struggled to keep her composure, but her tears could not be held any longer. She broke down. Sitting in the corner of her room, she wept. The only thing she could think of was the boy's cry's of pain, and his pleading. If it _was _her son, it meant that he was alive, and in pain. And she wasn't there to help him. But where could he be? She had to find out; she had to.

"Poseidon." Aphrodite mumbled.

Shakily, she stood up and whipped the tears from her eyes. She needed to find Poseidon, and since today there had been that meeting to send Percy on a quest to save Artemis, than it was most likely that he was in his temple on Olympus.

Aphrodite snapped her fingers, and flashed herself outside the temple of the sea god. Knocking on the temple door, Aphrodite bit her bottom lip nervously. They hadn't had a real conversation since the day she pleaded for him to give her, her son back.

Aphrodite thinking that a servant was going to answer the door, stood there surprised when Poseidon himself opened it. He blinked, bemused, "Uh, Aphrodite, what brings you here?"

Aphrodite looked down, "Can we talk?"

"Uh, yeah... Sure."

They stood there for a moment not knowing what to say until Aphrodite spoke, "Are you going to let me in, or are we going to stand here?"

"No, no, come in." Poseidon opened the enormous door to let Aphrodite in.

He cleared his throat, "Um, what do you need?"

"I need you to tell me if you really killed my son, or have you been bluffing?" Aphrodite stared him right in the eye. No fear showed through her beautiful, venomous eyes.

"W-what?"

"Where is he?" Aphrodite asked, viciously.

"I-I don't-" Aphrodite's eyes flashed. And as Poseidon thought that she would attack him, she stumbled on her knees. Tears flowed down in torrents. Poseidon looked down surprised as the goddess of love sobbed in front of him.

"Y-you lied to me, didn't you? He's alive, and you've been keeping him away from me, right?" Aphrodite trembled in anger and sadness, "Please, tell me where he is? I need to know, Poseidon. He's in danger; I need to help him."

Poseidon sighed, "Aphrodite, you know I can't tell you. If I do, he'll be in even more danger."

"More danger?" Aphrodite growled.

"Huh?"

"He's in enough danger, Poseidon. If I don't save him, he might die." Said Aphrodite.

Poseidon laughed, "Are you doing this to get him back, because I'm not going to tell you. And besides, he's a god. He can't die, he can fade, but he can't die, and that's impossible since there aren't any reason for him to fade."

"You don't understand! My son, our son, is in grave danger. I saw a vision, Poseidon. In that vision he told me that he was fading. I've also had these, these weird shocks. I don't know what it is, but I'm scared. I need to find him, Poseidon. I need to find my son." Aphrodite stood up abruptly. She needed to get him to tell her. It was the only way to save their son's life.

Poseidon frowned, "I can't."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know whether he survived where I put him in. I haven't seen him since the day I left him in that magical forest I created for him..." Poseidon trailed off seeing his mistake.

"You what!" Aphrodite screamed.

"Look, it's not as bad as it seems. Since he's our son, he probably survived... I think." Poseidon ran his hand through his raven black hair, nervously.

"How could you do that to your first, and only child?" Aphrodite asked, angrily.

"Whoa now. He's not my only child; I have Triton." Poseidon said proudly.

"Ha! Triton, your son? Please. He doesn't even look like you, much less act like you." Aphrodite scoffed.

"He's my son. Amphitrite and I _are _married after all. We had him." Poseidon stated.

"You really believe that? Well, I suggest you stop, because your _wife_ has been lying to you all along. Triton is not your son." Aphrodite glared.

"What do you mean?"

"Triton has another father, and that _wife _of yours is a lying whore." Stated Aphrodite.

"Don't talk about her that way!" Poseidon growled.

"Well, it's true. Triton has another father, and Amphitrite picked _you _as the sucker to this whole game." Aphrodite replied rather smugly.

"Who?"

Aphrodite looked bemused, "Who, what?"

"Who's this _father_ you're talking about?" Poseidon asked, barely containing his anger.

Aphrodite smirked, "Do you really want to know, Poseidon?"

"Tell me!" Demanded Poseidon.

"Oceanus."

"What! Her father? That's impossible!" Poseidon said, flabbergasted.

"Well, believe it, because it's true. Father, and daughter conceived an abomination." Aphrodite nodded, smiling.

"B-but that's so... Sick! It's wrong in so many levels. That can't be possible! You're lying." Poseidon narrowed his sea green eyes.

"I don't. It's the truth and nothing but the truth. Triton was never your son. It was Oceanus' son. I'm very sorry for your loss." Aphrodite burst out laughing.

"No, no, no."

"Look at the bright side, at least this isn't the weirdest thing we've seen. Zeus and Hera are married, but they're brother and sister. This family tree is stranger than any family tree out there." Aphrodite waved her hand in the air for affect.

"I can't believe it..." Poseidon trailed off. He grabbed Aphrodite's wrist and yanked her towards him.

"How do you know this?" Poseidon questioned, angrily.

Aphrodite struggled from his hold, "I heard it from somebody."

"Who?"

"I-I can't say who."

"I asked you a question, Aphrodite." Poseidon said.

Aphrodite gritted her teeth together, "Well, I asked you a question too, and you didn't answer it properly."

"I said more than I was supposed to. Now, how do you know this? Who told you?" Poseidon growled.

Aphrodite sighed, "I didn't hear it from anybody... I knew this because I helped her keep the secret from you. After you two got married, she came up to me and told me she was bearing a child. I tried ignoring her, but she told me everything. She told me that she cheated on you with her father, and that the child was Oceanus' not yours."

"You, you helped my wife hide t-this abomination?" Poseidon could barely contain his anger. He let Aphrodite go before he did anything that he would regret.

"Go. Leave me be." Poseidon ordered.

Aphrodite scoffed, "I'm not leaving until you tell me where my son is."

"I don't know! Leave me, now!" Poseidon screamed.

"Fine, but I'll find out where he is even if it's the last thing I do." Aphrodite turned on her heel and walked out. She could see that Poseidon was pissed, and if she tried pushing him any longer, it would turn out ugly.

"I'll find you, Perseus, but first, I need to finish my plans with that son of Poseidon. Brace yourself, Percy." Aphrodite laughed evilly.

"Brace yourself."

…

"Well, well, well, it seems someone's tired." Atlas chuckled evilly.

Artemis looked up with a painful gaze, but quickly looked down seeing Atlas' intimidating look. He grabbed her by the chin, "Look at me." He ordered.

Slowly, Artemis looked up. Her eyes still held that proud light, but not like before. Even though she held that proud light, there was still a frightened look.

Her lips were chapped, and her hair as matted by the sweat the dripped from her face. On her cheeks were tear stains, and from her nose dripped ichor, blood of the gods. Her arms were trembling from the weight of the heavy sky. The slashes that were on her back didn't help. She was pale, very pale.

"Are you ready to answer to me as your lord?" Atlas questioned.

It took her a while, but in a hoarse voice, she spoke, "N-no. I will n-never become your w-wife."

"You stupid girl! After I whipped you, and put you under the sky, you still neglect me?" Atlas growled.

Artemis didn't answer, but she did look at him without fear. Her breath came slowly, and she swallowed some of her saliva. There was a little ichor coming from her mouth. She was bleeding internally as well.

In his anger, Atlas brought his hand up to her face, and smacked it with all his might. Her head retracted, and more ichor dripped from her mouth. It dropped in the pool of golden ichor that had gathered on the stoney floor.

"Well, you'll be glad to hear that someone people are coming to save you. A few demigods, and two of your huntresses to be exact. We'll welcome them with a lovely surprise." Atlas paced in front of her as he thought. "But I think I know the reason why you don't want to marry me. It's because of that one boy you met millennium ago, am I right?"

Artemis swallowed once more, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know. You do remember the name, Perseus, right? The son of Aphrodite and Poseidon, or well, as I like to call it, their mistake. I know that you were trapped in his forest when you were young, and I also know that you loved him, but I know just the way for you to love me as you loved him." Atlas brought his hand up to her chin, and looked deep into her silver eyes.

"I don't-"

"Please, I know that you loved that mistake, don't try to deny it. But I'll give you some good news, and maybe some bad news too." Atlas grinned. Taking his hand away from her face, he cracked his knuckles, "Would you like to know?"

Artemis didn't respond.

"Okay, then. You don't want to answer, that's fine. I'll tell you anyway." Atlas sighed, "Well, you know that one son of Poseidon that defeated you in Capture the Flag? Yeah, well he isn't just a son of Poseidon, he's also the son of Aphrodite. So, he is a god. He's Perseus, you're love."

"W-what do you m-mean?" Stuttered Artemis.

"He's alive, and he's in America." Atlas pulled out the silver rose that Artemis had dropped, "Here. At least a remembrance of your little love, after all, we're going to... kill him. But maybe we won't have to since fate already put it's own hands to make him fade. Too bad you won't get to see him before he does though. What a sad tale..."

Atlas threw the rose to the ground at Artemis' feet, and left. Artemis looked at it as if it were the last thing that she would ever see. It's beauty was incredible; it's glow hadn't subsided since the day Percy had given it to her.

Tears slowly descended from her watery eyes as the young moon goddess started to cry. Her chapped lips let out a sad, heart wrenching sob. And her figure began trembling even more.

"P-Perseus," Artemis sobbed, "Come and save me. Please, don't fade. Please."

As her tears fell the day began turning into night. The stars twinkling in the distance, and the once bright full moon, flickered.

"Perseus..."

…

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><p><strong>Okay, guys, here's chapter thirteen. I'm sorry for my long absence I've just been having some trouble in life, and I need to get it straightened out. I hope you guys like it, and also, sorry that it's a little short. Thank you for all your wonderful reviews, alerts, and favorites. I'll try to upload more often, and I'll try to make my chapters longer. <strong>

**Please Review!**

**-PercyxArtemis**


	14. Encounters

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Mythology.**

* * *

><p><strong>Encounters <strong>

Perseus slumped down on the grass as Thalia tried hot wiring a car that they had found. The rest of the group stood and watched as she worked. Percy decided to keep a good distance away from the demigods, and the hunters. It wouldn't go well with them if they knew he was a god. They would tell Zeus right away; he couldn't afford for that to happen.

Percy lied down on the grass, staring at the sky in wonder. The clouds made different designs as they slowly moved around. He rose his right hand, and inspected it carefully as if it were the most interesting thing he had ever seen. It flashed for a moment making his eyes grow with worry and pain.

Sighing, Perseus let his hand fall, "Almost."

"Almost what?" A voice spoke from beside him.

Startled, Percy stood up, and got ready to make his sword appear. Grover stood beside him. He could only sigh at seeing the nervous satyr.

"Nothing..." Perseus trailed off.

"Really? Well, it seems to me that you've got something going on." Grover sat down next to Percy. "If you don't want to tell me, it's fine. A lot of people don't trust me anyway."

Percy grimaced, "Hey, now. Don't get upset. It's just hard to explain, okay?"

Grover sighed, "I can sort of see that. I mean, with regular demigods, it's easy, but with you it's just... I really don't know how to put it, but it's as if all your emotions are hidden. I have the same problem with gods, but not with demigods, well not until now."

"I see." Was all Percy said as he laid back down.

"But you seem... troubled somewhat." Grover concluded.

"Troubled, in what way?" Questioned Percy.

"I don't know," Grover shook his head in confusion, "but you have this look on your face, and I bet the others notice it too. You have this look of... Pain. Yes, pain."

"That noticeable, huh?" Percy quirked an eyebrow in question.

"Sort of, yeah."

"Peachy, just peachy." Percy sighed.

"Do you want to be alone?" Grover asked.

"Huh? Well, no, but I've been having a hard time in life, that's all." Percy inhaled a breath, "Haven't you had day's when you just want to, eh, I don't know... Leave the whole world behind?"

"Eh, no?"

"Exactly."

"I don't get where you're trying to go with this..." Grover trailed off, "Wait. Do you feel that way?"

"Yes, Grover, yes I do." Percy stated.

Bianca looked toward the two talking, and so she walked over to see what was going on.

"So, are you guy's ready for this quest?" Bianca tried making conversation to break the tension that had grown between the Satyr and the 'demigod'.

Grover nodded, while Percy just shrugged. So much for breaking the tension.

Bianca tapped Grover on the shoulder, and asked the young Satyr what was wrong with the daydreaming 'demigod'.

Grover shrugged, and whispered, "I have no clue. He seems to be... suicidal..." As the Satyr trailed off, Bianca nodded in response. It was noticeable. The son of Poseidon seemed very distant, and uncaring. Almost as if resigning to something.

Bianca cleared her throat, "Well, um, do you have any family members living around here, Percy?"

"Yes," Percy answered, "I have many family members, but most of them don't care about me. Actually... Most of them don't even know I exist."

"Family cares about one another, Percy. They must care. You wouldn't be here if they didn't care about you. And what do you mean they don't know you exist. They must know." Bianca sat down next to Percy making herself comfortable.

Percy scoffed, but didn't answer her question. He kept his gaze on the sky, while he cursed under his breath. Bianca couldn't quite make out what he was trying to say, but she got the idea. He didn't want to talk about it, and she understood. When people asked her about her family, she would ignore them and walk away.

Grover was about to say something, but quickly closed his mouth as Bianca gave him a warning look.

"Where are we heading?" Bianca questioned.

"I don't know," Percy mumbled, "but Thalia might know."

Bianca turned to where Thalia was struggling with a couple of wires, a determined look on her face. Thalia seemed so sure of herself, and Percy did too. Even though Percy was in a depressive state, he still had a look that said, 'Don't mess with me, or I'll crumble you to dust'.

"Thalia!" Percy shouted.

A bump was heard, and then it was followed by an 'Ow'. "What!" Thalia growled in frustration.

"You done yet?"

Thalia gritted her teeth, "No!"

"Oh, okay." Percy sighed, and went back to watching the clouds move into different shapes.

"I swear to Zeus if I get another distraction, I'm killing whoever did it." Thalia grumbled. She went back to her wires and concentrated once more. One wrong move, and the whole place would explode, or the car would just do something unexpected. Hopefully, the latter.

Zoë had been listening in on the entire conversation. Percy seemed to be awfully negative, and he would probably weigh the whole group down. They didn't have time to face other problems, they needed to save Artemis before it was too late. But how would she get rid of the sea spawn?

Shaking her head, Zoë walked up to the group that was sitting on the grass, and sat next to Bianca who had been looking at Percy disapprovingly.

"So... Eh, Perseus, um... What do thou plan on doing with the quest and what connections do you have with my lady?" Zoë questioned.

Percy rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh, well, I don't know what's going to happen, but what I _do_know is that we're going to save Artemis... I'm positive. I'd give my life to save her."

Zoë rose and eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because... I care about her, and I would do anything for her. I'd risk everything and anything for Artemis. I even regret what I did-"

"What happened between you and Artemis, Percy?" Bianca asked. Zoë and Grover looked at him expectantly, waiting to see what his answer would be.

Percy looked away, "I don't want to talk about it. I made a mistake and I ruined the most important thing in my entire life. I will never forgive myself for what I did, and I know that Artemis won't forgive me either."

"Maybe we can help, Perce." Grover suggested, "If you could just tell us what happened, maybe you can fix your problem with her."

"No. Artemis does not forgive a boy, ever. Don't give this ignorant boy ideas." Zoë jumped into the conversation before Percy could even answer.

Percy gave Zoë a mild glare, but he quickly turned to Grover to answer the shaking satyr, "I can't do or say anything to make her forgive me. I made a mistake and I will never have the chance to fix it, Grover. Another reason why I'm not going to say anything is because I may not live long enough to see the world end. I don't want Artemis to suffer again. My mouth is sealed."

"But what happened!" Bianca exclaimed.

Percy sighed, "Nothing, just forget about it."

"Stupid boy! Tell us or we'll-" Zoë was cut off as a roaring engine came to life and the lights of the car that Thalia was hot wiring, turned on.

"And it lives!" Thalia yelled happily. She turned toward the group and grinned, "Come on, you guys coming?"

The group look at one another like this was the last time they would live to tell the tale of Thalia Grace and the hot wired car.

Bianca grimaced, "Eh, we should probably go before she decides to run us over with the car."

"Yeah." Grover jumped up and ran toward the car, Bianca following the shaking satyr.

Percy was about to stand up, but a foot was on his chest before he could even move. He found Zoë glaring down at him, "This isn't over boy." She spat.

She glared down one last time before she turned on her heel and walked toward the group that was waiting for her and Perseus to get into the car.

Percy rubbed his chest and winced, "Just like Artemis." He shook his head, stood up, and brushed himself down. The group was waiting impatiently in the car. When he got in, Thalia turned around and glared.

"Took you long enough."

Perseus looked down, but said nothing in return. Instead, he laid his head down on the window and closed his eyes letting his dreams take over him...

Percy had never had a dream, and he never thought of having one. Dreams were only for mortals, but it seemed that he was weaker then he thought he was. The god of dreams, Morpheus, was now in control.

A dark land came into view and red lightning streaked through the dark, black skies. It was strange, but he noticed the sky seemed to be lower then usual. There was fog all over the place. He could hardly see where he stood.

A creepy laugh came from inside the deep fog, _"Well, how does it feel to hold all that weight, hm? I've been carrying it for millennium! Nobody has ever taken it away from me, until today. I tricked that boy, Luke to hold the weight of the sky, and he tricked his dear friend... The blonde, and then... I got you. Isn't it great when you get to use mindless people to do your own bidding? Refreshing." _

Percy knew that voice from somewhere, but he couldn't remember where. Wait. Yes, he _did _know the voice. It was him; the guy that chased him out of his own forest... His enemy.

Perseus decided walk into the deep fog, he wanted to choke the slimy little fucker to death. He swore that if he ever found the guy, he would give him a deadly punishment. Torture after torture coming after him nonstop.

The image that had appeared in front of him wasn't what he expected. It horrified him and made his anger flare.

It was his enemy, but he was... Laughing. At who? Artemis, the goddess of the moon, his love.

Her body shook with pain and sweat dripped from her forehead. Ichor pooled itself at her feet... Her own blood. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. That monster! He would pay. Dearly.

"_So, _Artie_... Do you miss him? I know you do. The love of your life, your strength to move on, your everything. He abandoned you, didn't he? But you don't know the reason why he did it, do you? Hehe, well, let's just say that he did it for a special reason." _Atlas chuckled,_ "Young love... How pathetic." _

"_Don't call me that!"_

"_Does it hurt to know that the person you loved, betrayed you?" _Atlas twirled his sword and pointed it at Artemis' neck. _"Should I kill you, or should I leave you to suffer? A very hard choice indeed..." _

Percy wanted to strangle him. Nobody touched Artemis, nobody. He looked at Artemis and at the pained look she held. The proud glint that she once held, gone. _'I swear that I'll save you, Artie. I owe you _that _much.' _

"_Call to him, _Artie_! I bet he'll listen now since he's with us at this moment." _Atlas turned toward Perseus' hiding place.

Percy tensed. Should he reveal himself, or should he just stay where he is and wait until he wakes up? No. He had to reveal himself. He had to prove to that _thing _that he wasn't playing games.

Perseus walked a bit more into the fog and found himself in front of his own enemy. Artemis disappeared along with everything else. His world spun many times making him dizzy. When it stopped, Atlas still stood in front of him, smiling. They were no longer standing in the fog place. Now, they stood in a blank, white room. Like, the end of the Universe. Blank.

Percy growled, _"Where is she?" _

Atlas smirked, _"She was never there, young Perseus. It was all a trap... So, do you like your new life?" _

His voice was different. Perseus took a good long look at his enemy and found that he couldn't even look at him without his vision blurring. Something was odd about the titan, but what?

"_What's wrong little godling? You scared?" _Atlas' laughter shook the blank room.

"_N-no. Who are you, titan?" _Percy clenched his sweaty fists. He could make out Atlas' form a little better, and something told him that this wasn't Atlas. It was someone else. The feeling felt more... Evil. Ancient.

"_You're figuring it out now, aren't you?" _Atlas' form began to melt, while fog erupted from nowhere. For a while, Perseus couldn't see a thing. As the time went by and the thickness of the fog dissipated, Percy saw someone else stand in the place of his enemy. It wore a black robe and nothing else. He didn't know it now, but this would be his new enemy. His main enemy.

The new form chuckled, _"Aren't you going to greet your grandfather, Perseus?" _

"_What?" _

The new person's robe covered his face therefore Perseus couldn't see him eyes. Percy knew that if he were to see the eyes of this... _thing_, he would end up lost in time. The aura of the man that towered over the son of Aphrodite and Poseidon, was evil. Something about him marked him as the evil character of a fairytale.

The person lowered the hood of his robe. Where a normal persons eyes should be, he had golden orbs. Like melted dirty gold that had just been dug up from the ground. He had onyx black hair and a crooked evil grin. His features screamed evil.

"_W-who are you?" _Perseus stuttered, while he readied himself for any hit of some sort.

"_I am Kronos, titan of time, son of Gaea, and slayer of Uranus... Also, your grandfather my dear little godling. Now, are you going to bow or should I make you?" _Kronos' eyes bored into Perseus, but he didn't budge. He wouldn't bow down to the likes of him.

"_I see then." _Kronos rose his hand as it glowed with a evil golden light. _"Now, BOW." _

Percy struggled to keep his stance, but a force kept pushing him down. He couldn't bow, he wouldn't bow.

"_Your stamina is strong, boy, but I'm stronger." _Kronos gritted his teeth as his hand began to burst into a painful golden light.

"_I will not bow! I am not your grandson. I will never do your bidding, never!" _Perseus kept his stance, but Kronos could tell that the young boy was about to break. Just a bit more.

"_Come on, boy. Help me rise from my ashes, help me conquer the world. Those stupid Olympians want you dead. You are an enemy to them, why must you risk your life for them, hm? They are imbeciles to have you trapped in that pity forest. Help me, boy! Help me RISE!" _Chanting could be heard as the room darkened considerably. The only light that could be seen was the harsh golden light that spread from the evil titan.

"_ENOUGH!" _Perseus screamed at the top of his lungs. The scene began to swirl and Percy's vision blurred once more.

Before the scene could dissipate, the evil titan's voice echoed in Perseus' ears, _"I will always be there boy, always. You will never get rid me, never. Remember one thing, my dear grandson... Your father sent you to your prison, your mother did nothing to save you. Are you really going to help them? They betrayed you. You are NOTHING to them. Absolutely nothing. I am the only one who cares for you. Remember that." _

With that said, the scene evaporated and a new scene welcomed the godling. He was back in his forest. Everything was the same before Atlas had attacked his home. The trees were enormous, the grass was greener then ever, and the air had a wonderful scent to it. It was like he never got chased out of it, like he was still there.

"_Percy, please stop!" _A voice echoed cheerfully. He knew that voice. That wonderful voice that was music to Perseus' ears.

_'Artie.' _Her old nickname crossed his mind. She was here.

He ran to where he heard her voice, and immediately stopped at the image that met his ocean blue eyes. It was like a flashback of some sort. An old, painful memory that jabbed at his brain like a spear being prodded into his head.

It hurt him so much. He remembered that day. They both seemed so happy... Without a worry in sight. Complete and utter happiness. He missed that feeling. The feeling of having that one happiness in life. His light, his goddess, his Artie.

He hid behind a tree as he stared at his old self as well as his old Artie.

"_Percy, hello? Earth to Percy? Are you there?"_ Little Artemis waved her hand in front of young Percy's thoughtful face.

He should've told her that he loved her. He knew that it would come back to bite him if he didn't say anything. Now, he had to suffer the consequences. She was a maiden goddess... And he? He was a forgotten god. Never to be known by the world...

"_Are you okay? You seem to be spacing out a lot, Percy." _She had a wonderful smile on her face. Oh, how he missed that smile.

"_I'm fine, Artie. I'm just thinking about stuff, that's all. No need to worry about little old me." _His young self spoke to Artemis.

What had he done? They could've been so happy. They _were _happy. He just had to go on a ruin that wonderful bond that they had. _'It was for the best, Perseus. She was in danger when she was with you...' _He tried to convince himself that he had done the right thing, but he couldn't. Deep inside, he knew that he made the worst mistake of his life.

He leaned against his tree, and slowly, he slid to the ground while holding his head in his hands. Why couldn't he just forget her? She had a great life with her family! He was just an intrusion to her life... A mistake. Like always. He would always be a mistake.

He needed to wake up, he _wanted _towake up already. _'Wake up! Come on!' _

_'Wake up, Perseus. Wake up!' _A new voice started whispering in his ear. A very familiar voice... Who was it?

_'Come on, Percy! Wake up dammit!' _It was Thalia. _'What's she doing in my dreams?' _Thought Percy, bemused.

Everything around him began to dissolve until he was surrounded in complete utter darkness. Where was he? He suddenly felt like he was pushed into something, hard.

"Ugh, where am I?" Percy groaned as he pushed himself away from the front seat that he had been pushed into.

Thalia growled, "Finally! We're being attacked. Get your weapons out."

"Huh?"

There was a slam on the hood of the car and black fire could be seen as it got sprayed onto the glass, shattering it. The group scrambled out of the car just in time to see the car erupt into flames and immediately explode because of the black fire.

"W-what was that?" Bianca stuttered.

Percy hadn't noticed, but it was night already. He must have been sleeping for a long time judging by the darkness of the sky.

Thalia spoke up, shakily, "I have no clue, but whatever it was, it's not here anymore..." She looked at the big print that had been left on the dirt ground and examined it. "It was a pretty big beast... Not an ordinary animal."

Percy looked at the flames and then at the big print. It was a claw print from the looks of it. His eyes widened dramatically, "No. It can't be." He whispered.

Thalia turned to him, "You know something about this?"

Percy was about to answer, but was stopped by a flash of light. A limo appeared in front of the wreckage of the destroyed car. It was no ordinary car seeing as it appeared in the middle of no where. Something about it made Percy uneasy.

The group readied their weapons as the front door to the limo, opened. Out came the war god, Ares. Even though Ares wasn't an enemy to them, they still held their weapons high.

Ares grinned evilly, "Perfect. Always ready for a fight, huh? Well, you guys can put your weapons down, I'm not here to fight... Unfortunately. I'm here for that little runt over there." Ares pointed toward Perseus.

"Uh, why me?" Percy asked curiously.

"My girlfriend wants to see you. She says it's very urgent." Ares glared at him as if he would somehow steal his girlfriend. "Don't try anything, kid. I'll gut you like a fish if you do."

"What?" Percy asked. Ares grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him toward the limo.

"Behave." Ares ordered. He opened the door and threw Percy into the limo.

The next thing that he heard made his mind go blank and his hands tremble. He never thought to hear her voice again. At least, not while they were both alone. It was like a melody, a lullaby. Percy lifted himself off the carpet floor of the limo and dusted himself off.

"Hello Perseus." Aphrodite spoke, "I am Aphrodite, goddess of love."

The only thought that could go through his mind was, _'Mother.' _

…

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><p><strong>Well, here's the fourteenth chapter! I know, I know... You guys hate me for taking such a long time for such a short chapter, but I have an excuse! I've had many things happen to me in life, and I can barely deal with them. Oh, and also... My laptop is being it's stupid self. Anyway, I'm on Summer Break! Since... May 17th, so that gave me some time to write this chapter down. Okay, so I want you all to guess what chapter played the part in Percy's dream. There's no prize, so don't get your hopes up, but I want to see if you all remember. Thanks for your wonderful feedback! <strong>

**Please Review! (It makes me want to actually write and more faster updates.) ****  
><strong>

**Thanks!  
><strong>

**-PercyxArtemis  
><strong>


	15. Stained

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO nor Mythology. **

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><p><strong>Stained<strong>

Perseus felt fear grip him as he faced his mother. He couldn't believe it; Aphrodite, his mother that had abandoned him many years ago, was right in front him, sitting like she was the queen of all gods. Oh, how he wished to tell her off and ask why she had left him, but he bit his tongue.

Aphrodite smiled, "Sit, Percy. We have much to discuss."

Percy nodded his head slowly, "Yes, ma'am."

"Now... I hear that you're the son of Poseidon," Aphrodite sourly stated, "Tell me. Have you ever met your father before the meeting up on Olympus?"

"No."

"What was your reaction when you saw your father?"

"... I was surprised." Percy didn't know why she kept asking him about his father, but he decided to answer truthfully. "I also felt vengeful."

"Vengeful?" Aphrodite rose an eyebrow.

Perseus nodded, "Yes."

Aphrodite nodded as she sat back, and relaxed. Maybe her revenge against Poseidon would be easier then she thought it would. Another thought entered her mind when she saw that Perseus didn't stutter, flinch, or sweat when she spoke to him. Something was off. Was it her make-up, dress, or was it that the child had the problem?

She decided to ask another question, "How's your mother like?"

Percy looked down, his face emotionless, "She abandoned me."

Aphrodite was speechless. She's seen many demigods that have been abandoned by their mortal parent, heck, some of her children went through those things, but something about hearing Perseus say those things hurt her. It pained her.

"I'm very sorry," Aphrodite cleared her throat, "I shouldn't have asked that."

"It's fine. I don't need her." Percy looked up, keeping a cold look on his features.

Once again, she felt the pain. How could Perseus say that? Every child needed their mother; Every mother needed their child as well. She felt hate and protectiveness flow through her. But why? She was here to destroy the demigod AND Poseidon. How could she feel that towards the demigod that was the son of her enemy? _'I hate you, Poseidon.' _

Aphrodite shook her head, while slapping herself mentally. _'I'm here to ruin Poseidon, and that's exactly what I'm going to do.' _

"Moving on to another topic. How did you find your way to Camp Half-blood?" Aphrodite questioned, trying to change the subject.

"I found it on my own." Percy answered, coldly.

"How?"

Perseus sighed, "Is this some sort of interrogation?"

"No, I just want to know more about you, Perseus." Aphrodite smiled slightly. The kid had a great attitude; Just like one of her children.

"Why?" Perseus asked, curiously.

"You intrigue me, Percy." Aphrodite took out some lip gloss and began to dab some on her already glossy lips, "You're a very mysterious demigod, and many gods want to know more about you. It's rare to see such a powerful demigod survive for a long time out in the world without any help."

Percy gulped as he felt something warm and fuzzy rise up inside him. With a slight surprise, he realized that he was being charm-spoken by his own mother. He shuddered at the thought of them ever being together. That would be so gross, incest, and not to mention gross.

He decided to use his own powers to block out her own, "I'm truly sorry, Lady Aphrodite, but I'm not attracted to you. I'm already in love with someone, and it's not you."

Aphrodite gritted her teeth, "I didn't ask you that, did I?"

"No, but you're using your charmspeak against me. You're making me fall in love with you, Lady Aphrodite, but it's not going to work." Percy smirked.

"And why not?"

"I'm immune." Percy answered simply.

Aphrodite laughed bitterly, "Don't make me laugh. Nobody is immune to my charmspeak, unless your one of my children, but since your the son of Poseidon, it's impossible."

"You don't know much about me, Lady Aphrodite." Percy kept a calm composure, but inside, he was having a fit. His mother was really starting to get on his nerves.

"I don't, but I'll learn more about the son of my enemy." Aphrodite said, smugly.

"Your enemy?"

"Yes, Poseidon is my enemy."

"Then why'd you have a child with him, hm?" Percy asked, coldly.

Aphrodite's eyes widened, she gripped the seat of the limo tightly, "How do you know about that?"

"I know many things." Percy smiled, evilly, "I know that the child was a powerful god, he was Poseidon's _and _your first child, also, I hold his name as well."

"Who told you this?" Aphrodite narrowed her eyes to the boy that sat in front of her.

"Why should I tell you?"

Aphrodite grabbed Perseus by the collar of his shirt, and pulled him to her roughly, "Who. Told. You. _This?_"

Percy was surprised to see his mother angry. He thought that she was all flowers and rainbows, but he never thought to see her bitter and cold. Percy stared into her eyes to only see sadness and anger instead of love and happiness.

"Let me go." Percy growled.

"You don't order me around, demigod." Aphrodite gritted her teeth. She was trying to control her anger, but soon, she knew that she would lose control.

Perseus felt his own anger grow fierce, "I said, let me go!"

Aphrodite raised her other hand up, the one that didn't have his shirt, and just as she was about to smack Perseus, something washed over her. A memory flashed through her mind. Something she thought to have forgotten...

_Poseidon held a sword against the neck of baby Perseus as he slept on, and just as he was going to slit the throat of his son, Aphrodite came walking in. Aphrodite's eyes widened at the sight of her son having a sword to his neck. _

"_What the Hades do you think you're doing, Poseidon!" Aphrodite screeched as she ran forward and reached for her son. Poseidon moved back and held his son tightly. _

"_I'm going to finish the mistake that may ruin both our lives." Poseidon answered, calmly. _

_Aphrodite shook her head, angrily, "By killing your own son!" _

"_He isn't supposed to live, Aphrodite." Poseidon stated simply. _

"_Let him go." _

"_No." _

"_You can't do this!" Aphrodite cried. _

"_Leave, Aphrodite. This might get ugly, and I don't want you to see this. I'll go talk to you when I'm done." Poseidon ordered, "Besides, you don't even know the child that well. You won't suffer much." _

_Aphrodite wanted to grab her child and run off, but she knew it was hopeless. Poseidon had a tight grip on him. She turned and was about to walk off, but stopped when she heard a small yawn. Aphrodite turned and saw Poseidon raise the sword up high, and just as he was about to strike Perseus, Aphrodite shot herself toward Poseidon and stopped the blade with the palm of her hand. Golden ichor flowed down her arm and onto the sword. _

_Aphrodite let out a small cry of pain, but she held the sword tightly. _

_Poseidon's eyes widened, "What are you doing, Aphrodite? Let go!" _

"_No." Aphrodite shook her head, golden tears rolling down her cheeks, "I won't let you hurt him." _

_Poseidon struggled to have Aphrodite release the sword, but she wouldn't let go. Baby Perseus opened his eyes and saw what was happening; He began to cry. _

"_Look what you're doing, Poseidon. You're letting your only son see this violence that you didn't want for him. Do you remember what you told me before he was born? You told me that you wanted him to live in a none violent area. You wanted the best for your one and only son!" Aphrodite screamed in Poseidon's face. This only made baby Perseus cry harder. _

_Poseidon grimaced, "I know what I said... I was wrong! He's dangerous! He must die..." _

"_No, he doesn't need to die. We'll just tell Zeus the truth, Poseidon." Aphrodite felt her hand go a little numb, but she kept a tight grip on the sharp sword. _

"_No! He can't find out, Aphrodite. If he finds out, Amphtrite finds out as well. I can't afford to have her find out about this." Poseidon struggled even more with the sword, which made Aphrodite scream out in pain. _

"_Let go!" _

"_No." _

_Poseidon let go of the sword making Aphrodite drop it. Out of anger, Poseidon rose the hand that wasn't holding Perseus, and backhanded Aphrodite on the cheek, hard. That caught her by surprise, and made her stumble back a few steps. She held her cheek in pain, while she stared at Poseidon, bemused. _

_Poseidon himself was surprised at what he had done to her. He took a step forward and reached for her, "I-I'm so sorry." _

_Aphrodite shook her head and shook him off, "Don't touch me." _

"_Please, Aphrodite, I didn't mean it." Poseidon pleaded. _

"_Give me my son." Aphrodite mumbled. _

"_Aphrodite-" _

"_Give me my son!" Aphrodite snapped at him. _

_Poseidon gave her her crying son, picked up the sword, and walked off without turning back._

_Aphrodite held her son close as she fell to her knees, "I won't let anything hurt you." _

_Baby Perseus calmed down, but a look of confusion was on his features. Why was his mother crying? He didn't like to see her that way. _

"_Nothing will hurt you my son. I promise you this," Aphrodite let out a choked sob, "I will protect you with all I have. I will become stronger just for you." _

_Perseus' eyes began to water at seeing his mother in such a state. _

"_Just for you..." _

Aphrodite let her hand fall as well as the collar of Perseus' shirt. She cleared her throat, "Forgive me for that... burst. I'm sorry."

Perseus seemed confused, but he nodded, "It's... alright."

Aphrodite sat back in her seat, and sighed, "I'm really sorry, Perseus. I should have controlled myself."

"Don't worry about it, it's alright." Percy smiled reassuringly. He actually felt a sort of sympathy toward Aphrodite. Even though he hated her, he felt that he needed to say something. _'Maybe I should tell her the truth... Maybe I should tell her that I'm her son. Maybe I should forgive her.' _

"Aphrodite, I-" An eruption interrupted him from saying anything else.

They both looked at each other, confused. Something was out there, and Perseus knew exactly what it was.

A roar could be heard in the distance.

"What was that?" Aphrodite questioned.

"I think I have an idea on what it could be..." Perseus trailed off as another explosion was heard in the distance followed by some stomping.

Percy stood and was about to open the door to the limo, but was stopped by Aphrodite.

"What do you do think you're doing? You're not going out there!" Aphrodite looked a little worried, and maybe she was. Something about Perseus made her feel whole, and she needed to know what it was before she actually lost him.

Percy smirked, "I'm going to save the day... Again."

Perseus opened the door, immediately regretting doing so as a wave of heat hit him, hard. There were black flames everywhere, except for the limo, of course.

Aphrodite gasped, "Who did this?"

"My pet." Percy said simply, while jumping out.

Aphrodite jumped out as well, losing her balance a little, but Perseus steadied her, "Careful. These flames are very dangerous, more dangerous then Greek fire. You should've stayed in the limo, Lady Aphrodite."

Aphrodite scoffed, "And leave you to have all the fun? No way."

Percy sighed, "Okay. Just be careful, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah... whatever." Aphrodite rolled her eyes, but smiled. For once, in many years, she actually smiled a genuine smile.

"Percy!" A voice called out from the distance.

Thalia ran toward Percy and Aphrodite, crying, "S-she's dead!"

"Who?" Percy felt himself start to panic.

Thalia didn't answer as she choked out a sob, while shaking her head. Her whole form was shaking; She was scared. It was rare to see the great Thalia Grace in a state of fear. She always stood proud and uncaring, so it surprised Percy to see her in that sort of state.

"Where's Ares?" Aphrodite demanded.

"H-he's trying t-to fight off the m-monster." Thalia stuttered, trying to get a hold of her emotions.

Percy went up to her, and put his hands on her shoulders, "Who's dead?"

"I- Bianca." Right when Thalia said her name, Percy felt anger swell up inside him like a balloon being inflated.

"Why?" Perseus demanded.

"She was trying to protect us," Thalia sniffled, "She thought she could control the monster since she's the daughter of Hades, b-but... She ended up risking her own damn life!"

"Thalia, you shouldn't have let her do that!"

"I-I thought she could control it!" Thalia yelled.

Aphrodite felt a little protective over Perseus, therefore she didn't like how Thalia spoke to him, "Enough! Get a hold of yourself, Thalia. Lead us to this... monster."

Thalia was startled at how the love goddess had spoken to her, but she nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

Another explosion was heard in the distance. Percy growled, and took off without even thinking, leaving both Thalia and Aphrodite, chasing after him.

…

Artemis felt sick to her stomach as she saw a demigod being slaughtered right before her very eyes.

Atlas laughed, "Isn't it great? Soon, another age will come, and killing demigods will become a sport. Ah... I can't wait."

"You sick bastard." Artemis spit out.

"Tell me, Artemis," Atlas grabbed a cloth from his pocket, and he began to clean his sword that was stained with demigod blood, "You killed many demigods _and _humans for no apparent reason. Only because they were boys. You truly are the daughter of a Titan, which I find _very _attractive."

"They came upon my hunt, Atlas! That's a whole different story!" Artemis growled.

"Oh, really? I don't think so, Artemis. You see, a kill is a kill. Don't you feel a sort of rush when you kill one of those innocent boys?"

"You're disgusting." Artemis stated.

"Am I? That's something that we both share, _Artie. _You kill innocent boys and I just kill for the fun of it. We're the perfect couple." Atlas grinned, evilly.

Atlas walked up to her, and put his sword to her neck, "Would you like to join the demigod as well?"

Artemis stared at the sword in disgust. Red blood still smeared the beautiful metal of the sword, which now made her want to hurl.

"You don't like the smell of blood, do you?" Atlas questioned.

Artemis couldn't answer since the smell of the blood had come up to her nostrils, and made her gasp for fresh air. There was no fresh air on Mount Tam, therefore making it harder for her to stop the sensation of vomiting.

Atlas, with his blood covered hands, grabbed her face, "Answer me!"

Artemis shook her head, "N-no!"

"Now, was that so hard?" Atlas asked, while running his bloody hands through her silky, auburn hair.

Artemis shook her head once again. She wanted to bite at him, or at least kick him where it hurts, but she couldn't because of the awful smell. The smell was something she had smelt before when she killed a human boy or a normal demigod. In her mind, she knew that Atlas was right about her killing innocent human beings, but they had seen her hunt. It was wrong, but she couldn't stop either. She let out all her frustration and anger by killing monsters, animals, demigods, _and_ humans. Percy would never approve of such a thing...

"That's a good girl. Now, I'll take my leave then." Atlas removed his bloody hands from her silky hair, stood up, and walked off leaving Artemis gagging.

"I hate you!" Artemis snarled.

The blood that had been smeared on her pale face was burning as if she had a blazing piece of iron on her face. The smell wouldn't leave, and a great amount of blood had been left on her face. Some of it began to drip onto the floor mixing in with her own semi-dried up ichor. The silver rose that was on the ichor stained floor had a few droplets of red blood coming down it's petals.

Artemis tried to reach for it, but it was useless; She couldn't move much in her weakened state.

Everything had been stained. Not just with blood, but with hate. The silver rose had lost its natural glow, and it now began to flicker. It made her want to shout and cry, but she wouldn't. She would wait for Perseus to come and fix it. He would fix everything, and if not, she would try. Even though she held a deep hate for him, she would try to forgive him. She would change just for him.

Artemis struggled to keep her emotions in check as well as the sky. Everyday it grew heavier and it made her grow weaker.

The stench grew thicker almost choking her.

Everything was stained with blood, hate, and lies...

…

As Perseus ran, he could smell something that didn't please his stomach at all. He also felt like a sort of jab to his heart. A vision crossed his mind, and he almost stumbled. It was Artemis.

The floor was covered in ichor and actual human blood. He saw the silver rose that he had given to Artemis many millennium ago, and it didn't seem to be in good conditions. It was flickering, blood stained its pedals as well as ichor. Artemis was covered in the same substance, sweat dripping from her forehead, too. Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes, but he knew that she was holding them back.

It made his anger grow faster, his control over himself letting loose. Power and energy flowing through his veins, only his anger giving him the strength to run faster and making him shoot a ball of energy to nobody in particular.

Sooner then expected, he arrived to his destination. His pet roaring at all the demigods and Ares. It was his black dragon, and it didn't seem happy at all.

Percy let out a snarl, and with his two fists, he slammed them against the dirt ground, letting a shock of energy go through the valley and through the dragon. The dragon shrunk in size and stared at Perseus, with a frightened look on it's scaly features.

Percy began to feel dizzy, but he stood his ground, "Come here. NOW!"

The dragon shot itself toward it's owner, and stood in front of Perseus waiting for any type of order.

Perseus knelt down, "We're going to have our revenge; We're going to destroy the Titans and anyone else who helped them destroy our home _and _our lives."

The dragon nodded it's head, and let out a growl.

"They stained everything, and we're going to fix it. This. Means. WAR!"

…

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><p><strong>Eh, hi guys! How's it going? Good? Okay then... I guess I have to explain myself on why the chapter was so late. Well, I've had a really tough time. I've been through so many things lately, and it's hard to juggle with all of it. You see... My parents are awfully sick, I had to deal with a break up, and I am on vacation. Right now, I'm in Canada. I'm coming back in lets say... Two days? Maybe one? I don't know. I would like to thank all of you for your wonderful reviews! I got about... 50 of them! Thank you so much. I would like to have the same number or maybe even more. Please? Okay. Um, okay, so now... The last chapter, I asked all of you to tell me what chapter was used in the dream... I got like, I dunno. A few responses? Yeah. I'd like to thank Starblade176, SenatorTwizzler, Inevera, Persona, Dominator4bolt, for knowing their facts! Thank you. Oh, and it seems I have a Fanboy out there. Thanks 1Fanboy. Okay, is that all? I think so.<strong>

**Now, I'd like to ask you all... Please Review! (It makes me want to write more and more updates) I'll try to update ASAP. Okay? Okay then. Now, go on. Give me your responses!  
><strong>

**-PercyxArtemis  
><strong>


	16. The Truth

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO nor Mythology. **

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><p><strong>The Truth <strong>

Percy felt himself getting weaker. He shouldn't have put so much energy into the shockwave, but he had no other choice. If he wouldn't have done it, his friends would've been killed. He couldn't have any more people die because of him. He needed to leave; he needed to save Artemis before he started to disappear from existence.

In the distance, Percy saw Aphrodite and Thalia running towards him. He couldn't have anybody interfere with his time. Not even his mother.

Quickly, Perseus snapped his fingers making the black dragon immediately grow to its full size. As Perseus began to mount the dragon, Zoë got out of her shock and ran toward him.

Percy paused for a moment as Zoë neared him. "What do you want?"

Zoë snorted. "I want to go save my lady. I know thou are going, and if that is the case, I want to go too."

"What makes you think I'm going to save her?" Perseus narrowed his eyes.

"Because I know that thou have somehow known her before she turned cold. Thou have a connection with Artemis." Zoë responded.

Percy laughed. "That doesn't mean that I'm going to save her. I may as well leave her for dead."

Zoë's jaw clenched. "Stop it, boy! I know thou care's about her as much as I do. I know that thou aren't the person that you say you are."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Just take me with thee."

Perseus hesitated. "I don't think it's a good idea…"

"Look, Perseus… I must save my lady. Just-just p-please take me with thee." Zoë struggled to say the last sentence. She never begged, especially not to a boy, but it was necessary. If it would get Perseus to take her, then she would do anything.

Percy sighed. "Fine."

Perseus quickly helped Zoë climb on once he saw that the others were getting out of their shock, and that Aphrodite and Thalia were nearing them. But that wasn't all that made him want to leave, it was the air. It had the scent of death; of blood. He needed to leave.

…

The air had become colder, the skies grew darker, and the ground seemed to tremble. Aphrodite and Thalia stopped when they saw a big flash of lightning strike through the sky. Something was troubling Zeus.

Hermes appeared a moment after, his eyes wide with fear. His hands were shaking as he took a parchment out of his bag where he carried all his mail. He swallowed and cleared his throat while he unraveled the parchment out. He let out a shaky breath as he started to read it out loud. "Lord Zeus has called upon all the Olympian gods for a meeting. He requires the presence of Aphrodite and Perseus Jackson. If anybody wishes not to attend, there will be a severe punishment." With his hands shaking, he took out some golden cuffs from his bag. "Aphrodite… will you come here?"

Aphrodite stepped forward, confused. "Eh, okay…"

In one fast motion, Hermes placed the golden cuffs on Aphrodite. "I'm sorry…" Hermes said, his head facing the ground.

"W-what's the meaning of this?!" Aphrodite growled.

Hermes turned to face Ares. "I would advise you to go to Olympus. Your presence will be needed, Ares."

Ares looked like he had been slapped. "I don't understand… Why would you do that to Aphrodite? She has done nothing wrong. She's innocent!"

"It is Zeus's orders… She has committed a crime." Hermes said. He grabbed Aphrodite's arm, and quickly flashed away.

Hermes and Aphrodite appeared in a very bright room. It took Aphrodite awhile to realize that they were in the throne room. All the gods were very silent; the room was tense. Each god had a different expression on their features. Some looked very displeased, a few looked disgusted, others looked very sad, and some just couldn't seem to decide on what emotion to show. Zeus was the only one that looked to be calm and composed.

After a long moment of silence, Zeus looked around and asked, "Is that everybody, Athena?"

Athena looked confused for a moment, but quickly, she shook her head and said, "No, my lord. We still need Ares and Artemis… but since Artemis is clearly incapable of coming, we only need Ares to be present."

"Then we'll have to start without him," Zeus faced Aphrodite. "You do know why you're here, right?"

Aphrodite shook her head. "No, my lord. Hermes just said that I committed a crime. I have done nothing wrong."

Zeus laughed coldly. "Oh, but you have. I also see that Perseus isn't here… Was he too afraid of facing the king of the gods? Tell me, how long have you been hiding him from us? A few hundred years perhaps, or maybe… a thousand? Be honest, Aphrodite. I have Apollo here to tell me whether you're telling the truth or not."

"I don't believe I quite follow…"

"Don't lie, Aphrodite! We know the truth now! Poseidon had the guts to tell me about your little affair with him. He told us about that son that you had with him, too. Just admit it and your punishment will be less severe."

Aphrodite turned to Poseidon. "You told him?"

"I'm sorry, Aphrodite. This has to be fixed." Poseidon said, his head facing the ground. He didn't dare look at her.

"You see, Aphrodite? He wants things to be right. We can't have that monstrosity of yours running around, can we? He has to leave." Zeus said coldly.

It took Aphrodite awhile to understand what he was talking about. But once she realized that he was talking about her son, something in her snapped. "Don't talk about my son like he's a monster from Tartarus! He's not. He has done nothing wrong. Why would you want him gone? He may even help us through this war!"

Everyone gasped as Aphrodite talked back to the king. Nobody talked back to Zeus. Maybe his wife could do that, but that would be in private. Not in front of the council. Zeus looked surprised for a moment, but he immediately masked his surprise with indifference. "He is a monster. He has gotten my daughter imprisoned by that Titan, Atlas. He has stirred up Kronos himself. This has to be fixed. Once he's gone, the war that you speak of will never happen. Everything will be fixed."

"Nothing will be fixed, Zeus! My son has been on this earth for millennia! If it were to be my son's fault, then the war would've happened centuries ago. And besides, I don't even know where my son is. He was hidden by Poseidon. I've tried to find him, but it's impossible. I don't even know if he's alive!" Aphrodite was on the verge of tears. It took all of her self control to not let her emotions take over her.

Zeus laughed. "Poseidon said that _you _hid him in a forest millennia ago. A few days after he was born, actually. You're lying! He's alive and you know _exactly _where he is. You thought you had us fooled the whole time, eh?"

"I'm not lying! I would never lie about this, Zeus."

"Oh, really? Well, I believe that you are lying. Poseidon would never-"

Zeus was cut off by Apollo clearing his throat. He decided to speak for the first time during the argument. "Father… She isn't lying."

Zeus paused for a moment. He leaned back in his throne and sunk down a little. His jaw clenched and he grabbed his thunderbolt. "Someone's lying here… Someone better tell me the truth before I make a mistake and murder both Poseidon and Aphrodite!"

Apollo bit his lip like he was trying to say something, but he didn't know how to say it. "F-father… I think it's time you know why my sister took awhile to get here…"

"Your mother said that she didn't want to come up to Olympus, Apollo. I already know this. You don't need to tell me this. We're on more important matters right now." Zeus asked, curiously.

"No, father. You see… My sister always wanted to meet you and come up to Olympus. She, well, she got lost. After I was born, mother found a place for us to stay a couple of nights. There was a forest beside the little place that we found. Mother said to never go into the forest because it was very dangerous. I really didn't care about this forest, but Artemis did. When mother and I were asleep, she decided to enter this mysterious forest." Apollo paused for a moment as he let his words sink in. "After that, my mother and I searched and searched. My mother doubted that she entered the forest, but in the end, she decided to look there. It was the only place that we hadn't looked. We entered this forest, and there I found I had to face many challenges. There was this person that owned the forest. He was young, but he said that he knew where Artemis was. He said that he would show us. The deal was, if I could pass his tests, he would show us where Artemis was. I passed them. He showed us where Artemis was."

Zeus looked at his son. "I would've liked to know this sooner, but… what does that have to do with what we're discussing about right now?"

"Well, the owner of that forest was Perseus, the son of Aphrodite and Poseidon. He said he would be going with us, but in the end, he stayed. Father, he saved Artemis. You should be thankful for that. He gave her a home and protected her." Apollo stated.

Before Zeus or Apollo could say anything else, Aphrodite asked, "Where is the forest?"

Apollo grimaced. "Well, I can't go there anymore. My sister can't, either. Once you go in, you may never come out. Well, unless the owner of the forest lets you out. My sister has tried to look for that forest, but she can never find it. I've tired and I haven't found it, either. I can't really tell you where it is because I don't know where it is. My mother may know, but she disappeared centuries ago…"

"There must be a way to get there, right?" Aphrodite questioned.

"Well, yes. If you want to find Perseus, then I suggest you stop looking, Aphrodite." Apollo said.

"Why would I stop looking?"

"Because you've already found your son. The only reason you haven't realized this is because you're too blind to actually look in front of you. He's been near you so many times. You've talked to him, too." Apollo looked very serious. He was usually never serious. He would always joke around about things, and it took Aphrodite awhile to actually process this new information.

"Who is he, Apollo? Please, tell me who he is. Tell me where he is. Is he alright?" Aphrodite attacked Apollo with questions. Apollo could see that Aphrodite was desperate. Apollo was about to tell her, but Zeus cut him off.

"I thought you would know who he is by now, Aphrodite."

Aphrodite was about to respond, but a flash of red light cut her off. It was Ares. He still looked angry, but he also looked frantic. "What's going on?"

"Well, look who showed up!" Dionysus exclaimed.

Ares glared. "I was fixing a few things, but I'm here now."

"You've missed a lot of interesting things, Ares. I mean, it's not every day that you hear that your girlfriend had a kid with Poseidon." Dionysus looked overjoyed. It looked like he just loved drama between the family. It was usually Aphrodite who took joy in these types of things or situations.

"What?"

Dionysus laughed. "Oh, don't play dumb! You heard me."

Ares quickly turned to Aphrodite. "Is this true?"

"Yes." Aphrodite didn't even hesitate to respond.

Ares looked about ready to erupt. Yes, Aphrodite wasn't his wife, but she belonged to him. Not even the old cripple, Hephaestus, could get her to be his. Only Ares. Something about Aphrodite going in bed with old barnacle beard made his blood boil. He never had felt this angry when Aphrodite had her many affairs with mortals. Why would he start to feel these emotions now?

Zeus cleared his throat. "Well, if we could solve this problem, we'd be able to go into more important matters…" Zeus turned toward Aphrodite. "Apollo knows who your son is. We all do, too. It's interesting to know that you don't know. You're always the first to know all the gossip that goes through the godly world as well as the mortal world."

"I have no idea who he is, Zeus. I didn't even know that he was alive… Actually, I sort of had my suspicions. I asked Poseidon to tell me whether he was alive or not. He said that he put Perseus in a magical forest. I asked him to take me there, but he said he didn't know if Perseus survived in the forest. But no, I think it's because of that son of Poseidon. He doesn't want to give his godly son the praise he deserves…" Aphrodite trailed off.

"I think you just answered yourself, Aphrodite. You know who your son is; you just can't seem to make the connection." Athena chuckled.

Aphrodite felt her whole world stop. Her eyes widened in realization. "Perseus… Jackson?"

"Yes, Aphrodite. Perseus Jackson is your son. Your long lost son." Apollo smiled sadly.

"T-that's not possible… He's a demigod! A son of Poseidon!" Aphrodite shook her head, angrily.

"Oh, but Aphrodite, he's your son. He's not a demigod. We seemed to be mistaken. That's why Poseidon couldn't remember when he had that "affair" with that mortal woman… Sally Jackson, right? Yes, I believe that was her name… Poseidon told us that the boy was fading. That's why we couldn't really sense him like a full god. Luckily, Poseidon told us about this." Zeus explained.

A sense of realization hit her. "I know he's fading! I've sensed this for months now. I-I've been having these weird… visions? Yes, I think they're visions. It's been very weird. I don't think I can really explain it, but it's become very painful. To be honest, I thought I was fading. But now I know that I'm not. It's my son… b-but I don't know how it could be that son of Poseidon! I talked to him; he didn't show any signs of being my son!"

Athena decided to speak again. "Are you saying that you don't want him? If you don't, it'll make killing him easier."

"I'm not saying that!" Aphrodite exclaimed.

Apollo glared at Athena. "Will you stop acting like such a bitch to her? She's done nothing wrong!"

Athena looked very offended. As she was about to retort, Hera intervened. "Apollo, watch your language!"

"Well, tell her to stop acting like a total bitch!"

"Why are you defending her now, Apollo? Is it because you want to have an affair with that slut? Isn't it enough to have mister sea god like her? Now you do too?" Athena's eyes became a darker hue of grey. It was clear that she was beyond pissed.

"Watch who you're talking about, Athena! I can make your life a living hell!" Aphrodite snarled.

"Oh, look, I'm so scared! Are you going to throw some roses at me?" Athena smirked.

Aphrodite's jaw clenched. "Watch yourself Athena."

Athena laughed. "Ooh, I'm shaking!"

"Shut-up…"

"What are you going to do about it, huh? Are you going to make me some heart shaped cookies? I bet your son is as pathetic-" Athena didn't get to finish her sentence as a purplish light was thrown her way. She barely had anytime to dodge the purple light.

Athena turned and saw that a big hole had been burned through the marble wall behind her throne. She turned her head back toward Aphrodite. Aphrodite was glaring at Athena. Something was clearly wrong with the love goddess. On normal days, Athena would insult Aphrodite and she wouldn't mind at all. But this wasn't a normal day…

"Don't ever insult me or my son again, do you understand Athena?" Aphrodite looked about ready to burst into her true form.

Athena glared. "You don't tell me what to do."

"Enough! We don't want another hole burned through the marble today. It's bad enough that there's one in here in the first place!" Zeus pounded his thunderbolt on the marble floor to get the attention of the other dumbstruck gods.

"I warned her." Aphrodite said coldly.

"Yes, well, you didn't have to burn a hole through the wall of the throne room." Zeus muttered. "Well, onto the main topic. Perseus Jackson is indeed your son, Aphrodite. And if what Apollo says is true, then I say that you nor your son deserve any punishment. Yes, I understand that this is wrong, but… if he saved my daughter, Artemis, then he's worthy enough to step foot on Olympus."

"Then who's getting punished for this whole mess?" Ares asked.

"Poseidon."

"What?! Me? Why me? I've done nothing wrong. I only told you the truth, Zeus!" Poseidon panicked.

"You didn't tell me the truth, Poseidon. You lied. Well, somewhat. You told me about your son and you also told me that the mother of your son was Aphrodite. The rest you blamed it on her. That's why we have Apollo here. He's the one who detects who's telling the truth or not." Zeus nodded toward Apollo.

"I'm like a freakin' lie detector…" Apollo grumbled.

"Yes, well, you're going to be punished. Not severely, but punished nonetheless." Zeus stated.

"I can't believe this!" Poseidon exclaimed.

"What's going to happen to my son then?" Aphrodite questioned.

"I'm not really sure… Now the real question is, are we going to keep your son alive or are we going to kill him?"

…

"Where are we headed?" Zoë asked curiously.

"We're going to save Artemis, of course!" Perseus said happily.

They were currently flying through some unknown place. To Zoë, it felt like they were lost. Percy looked like he didn't have a clue where he was headed. He just looked rather happy. It was a weird look on him, but it was also good. His emotions immediately changed from gloomy to excited. Zoë didn't know whether to take that as a good omen or a bad one. Whenever Perseus was upset, something bad happened. Whenever he was excited or overly happy, which rarely happened, something good happened. Zoë had been studying this for awhile now.

"Do thou even know how to get there?" Zoë asked.

"Of course I don't."

Zoë stared at him, dumbfounded. "Then how do thou expect to get there? Are we just going to fly in circles until we end up getting there?"

Perseus laughed. "Nope. My dragon will get us there. He knows the way."

Zoë remained quiet for awhile. Boys were very confusing. Especially when they expected everyone to understand their reasons for everything. She just decided that every boy was crazy.

"So… what's the dragon's name?" Zoë asked after a long awkward silence.

"His name is… Uh…" Percy looked like he'd been slapped. He hadn't named his dragon… Ever. He had spent so much time with dragon, and never had he chosen a name for it. "He doesn't have a name… I've never picked one for him…"

"Why not?" Zoë asked.

"I'm not sure… I've never thought of picking one for him." Percy answered.

Zoë remained silent once again. She had never had a real conversation with a boy for a very long time. She was usually harassing the boy or she was ready to kill one. Many questions were swirling in her head. She wanted to ask him so many things. But what should she start with? Would he answer them honestly?

Zoë decided to take the small risk of asking him. "What is your connection with Lady Artemis?"

Perseus stiffened. It took him awhile to answer, but he eventually did. "Well, the connection I have with her is very different. I don't know if I should tell you, but since I'm going to end up dying, I don't think it's going to hurt me if I tell you." Percy sighed. "I was such a young little boy when I met her. We were both very innocent. I considered her like a friend; a very good friend. We practically did everything together. I taught her how to hunt, and she turned out to be a pretty good hunter; better than me even. But eventually, I had to let her go. I couldn't keep her with me. Her family needed her. So… I ended up letting her go. I lost my best friend and the love of my life.

"Where did thou meet her at?"

"In my forest. My magical prison…"

…

* * *

><p><strong>Hey, guys! I bet you're all very, very pissed... I'm sorry. I've just been really busy. And I've had some trouble with the story, too. Y'see, I just didn't know how to fit all of my ideas onto a piece of paper. I tried so many times, but... It was a failure. I had to erase the chapter like four times to actually get it right. I know it sucks... I'll try my hardest next time. Oh, and I almost forgot... I've got this friend of mine. She wrote a story called, Bleeding Coral. Yeah, well, I gave her permission to copy some stuff from my story. You guys should go check it out. It's an amazing story. Her first chapter, which is the only one that she has, is awesome. She'll probably post some more chapters soon... I hope. <strong>

**Oh, and you guys know the line already... Review. Please. Yeah, I know I said I would update ASAP if you guys reviewed more, but seriously... Review. Thanks for reading!****  
><strong>

**PS: I changed my name. It's not PercyxArtemis anymore. It's NightsPoison.  
><strong>

**-NightsPoison  
><strong>


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